JD Sports is preparing to engage in talks with landlords on its Go Outdoors store estate, after buying back the retailer for £56.5m in a pre-pack administration.
The retail company has taken an initial 12-month licence to occupy Go Outdoors’ 67 stores.
It said that subject to “realism and flexibility” in future leases, it intends to retain the majority of the retail estate.
JD Sports said the “terms of the property leases in Go were extremely inflexible” since the stores had an average remaining period to lease expiry of around 10 years with upwards-only rent reviews, many of which are “fixed at rates above inflation regardless of the market rent in the location”.
Deloitte was appointed to oversee the pre-pack process. The retailer said its insolvency proposal was reviewed and cleared in advance by the independent Pre Pack Pool.
Peter Cowgill, executive chairman, said: “We look forward to having positive conversations with landlords and agreeing new flexible lease contracts which reflect the widely reported challenges of reduced consumer footfall.”
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