KPMG to take administrator's seat at Courts
KPMG is set to take over at Courts after the furniture chain failed to renegotiate loans with its lenders.
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Courts has racked up debts of £280m, and was desperate for immediate additional funding, which bankers – including Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland – were unwilling to provide.
KPMG said: ‘We can confirm we are advising banking groups of Courts Plc & UK. We hope to be in a position very soon to make a statement, but at the moment we are not officially appointed.’
If it is appointed, the firm will face the challenge of saving a business with 1,400 UK employees. Its shares, suspended yesterday at 13.5p, had been trading at 300p as recently as April, before a series of profit warnings hit investor confidence.