Superdry founder woos US investor to again bid for struggling chain

A distinguished US investor is among the many events being courted by Superdry’s founder as he assembles a suggestion to take the struggling vogue chain non-public.

Sky News has learnt that Davidson Kempner, which has backed plenty of UK retailers, is in discussions with Julian Dunkerton about backing a suggestion for Superdry.

The talks are at a preliminary stage and there’s no assure that Davidson Kempner will finally signal an settlement with Mr Dunkerton.

Their discussions add the US investor, which has backed Jojo Maman Bebe and Oak Furnitureland, and beforehand held a slug of debt in New Look, to an inventory of companies inspecting Mr Dunkerton’s proposals.

Others embody Retail Realisation, a agency backed by the founding father of turnaround investor Rcapital.

Earlier this month, it emerged that Mr Dunkerton needed to purchase the bulk stake in Superdry that he doesn’t already personal, at the same time as the corporate draws up plans to shut shops and minimize jobs.

Mr Dunkerton, who in 2019 returned to the corporate having beforehand been ousted, owns slightly below 30% of the shares.

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On Monday, shares within the retailer closed at 33.65p, giving it a market capitalisation of lower than £35m.

The firm additionally has greater than £100m of borrowings, after securing funding from Bantry Bay Capital and Hilco.

In current months, Superdry has raised money by offloading its model in areas together with India and Asia-Pacific.

Late final 12 months, its shares sank to a record low after it blamed abnormally delicate autumn climate for weak gross sales.

After a buying and selling replace final month, the shares crashed to a document low.

“The consumer retail market remains challenging and unpredictable, and sales performance has not been helped by the extreme weather events of the summer being followed by one of the warmest autumn seasons on record, which persisted through the peak Christmas trading period,” Superdry stated in that assertion.

Davidson Kempner, Superdry and Mr Dunkerton declined to remark.