Caffe Nero has hit back at attempts by the billionaire owners of Asda to fund a legal challenge to its CVA.
EG Group, led by the Issa brothers, was reported at the weekend to have hired law firm CMS and property advisers Christie & Co and CWM to rally landlords to launch a challenge to the coffee chain’s CVA.
A spokesman for Caffe Nero said: “We fully stand by our original position to carry on with the CVA, which was approved by 93% of creditors, and remain committed to engaging with our landlords and creditors and other key stakeholders.”
The retailer said that it had received a letter just prior to the conclusion of the CVA vote from EG Group with an offer to buy the business. It said the letter was “unsolicited, highly conditional and was merely an expression of interest, which could be retracted at any time.”
The spokesman added: “It remains our view that these actions were clearly designed to frustrate the CVA process.
“The CVA is now in effect and if there are any concerned creditors who wish to engage with us, we would be very happy to talk to them and find a co-operative way forward. We fully believe the decisions we have taken are in the immediate and long-term best interests of our creditors and other key stakeholders.”
Caffe Nero’s CVA will see it move to turnover-based rents and comes with a caveat that if the business is sold to a third party, all compromised creditors will have their rental arrears repaid in full.
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