www.hilcocapital.com CASE STUDY Background Founded in Croydon in 1862, Allders grew through the acquisition of other regional department stores to become a 45 store, £800 million turnover public company at its peak. The late 1990s saw a rapid decline set in and by 2005, Allders plc had been significantly loss-making for a number of years and faced administration. Lenders to the business believed their position was at risk and, believing that they were unlikely to recover a significant proportion of their loans to the company, decided to sell their secured debt positions to a consortium of investors led by Hilco Capital. Hilco Capital’s role Results • Acquired £150m of secured debt from Lehman Brothers • Innovative, proactive approach to retail administrations at substantial discount to par value enabled 30 stores and 3,500 jobs to transfer to major • Appointed by the Administrator to operate the business high street retailers during the administration • Stores continued trading throughout the transfer • Provided £15m of additional working capital to the process, maximising recoveries Administrator to extend the trading period, facilitating a • Closure process realised over £200m of inventory more orderly disposal of the business and assets • Total recoveries from the administration exceeded the • Sourced and funded an additional £20m of stock level of secured debt • Managed supplier negotiations to minimise ROT claims • Enhanced recoveries enabled a significant payment • Managed negotiations with concession operators, to be made to Allders’ pension scheme which had realising an additional £30m of sales been substantially underfunded at the time of the • Managed the smooth handover of stores to buyers administration including Debenhams, BHS and Primark Key facts £15m £20m 3,500 45 £800m working capital augment stock jobs transferred to department stores turnover provided supplied other retailers CSAL-1117 www.hilcocapital.com.