Topshop owner drops real estate ballast in full group restructuring

The owner of Topshop keeps closing stores. Arcadia Group has sold the building Marylebone House, in the heart of London, to the property investment company Aprirose for 44 million pounds (50.9 million euros). The company is undergoing a restructuring with the closure of hundreds of points of sale.

Marylebone House, located in Oxford Street 214, one of the prime areas of the British capital, belonged to Arcadia Group since 2006, and until now, was one of its main assets, according to The Sunday Times.

The sale has been completed after the owner of Arcadia, Philip Green, will be reviewed by advisors from accountancy firm Deloitte on the new plan to close stores that will execute throughout the year.

Arcadia signed the sale after hiring Deloitte to seek advice on its commercial reorganization plan

Arcadia is undergoing a complex situation. The group shut down more than 210 points of sale in the last few years, which represents more than one fifth of its network of stores. Specifically, Arcadia closed 62 stores of the Dorothy Perkins chain, 41 of Evans, 26 of Wallis and 80 of the Topshop chains, Topman, Miss Selfridge and Burton.

The group closed the fiscal year 2017 with a fall in the operating profit (before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) of 42%, to 124.1 million pounds (143.6 million euros). Sales were reduced by 5.6% compared to 2016.