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Debenhams ‘never recovered from private equity ownership’
Retail experts blame period in hands of consortium for firm’s inability to weather Covid closures
- Chain set to close all stores with possible loss of 12,000 jobs
- The rise and fall of a British retail institution
Coronavirus store closures may have been the final nail in the coffin for Debenhams but retail experts argue the department store chain never recovered from a brutal period in the hands of priv ate equity.
The retailer was taken over in 2003 by a private equity consortium. The trio of funds, TPG, CVC Capital and Merrill Lynch, made huge returns from their £600m investment, collecting £1.2bn in dividends despite owning the company for less than three years.
Read the original article at The Guardian