Mr. Ashley, who owns a 30 percent stake in Debenhams, offered a last-minute deal worth £200m to rescue the company, including an underwriting for equity insurance worth £150m, but was rejected by the department chain during negotiations.
Whilst stores across the UK are set to close, the franchise will continue trading on the London Stock Exchange, with shareholders including Mr. Ashley – who owns 30 percent of Debenhams stocks – being excluded from ownership. Administrators from FTI Consulting were appointed and immediately sold Debenhams for £101.8m with debts around £520m plus company pensions. Debenhams has 166 stores with 25,000 employees across the UK, but suppliers and pension holders would not be "immediately" affected by the sale.
— Jade (@jadecoral) April 9, 2019