// Intu CEO Matthew Roberts resigns a week after the company fell into administration
// KPMG is retaining key Intu operational staff to ensure the continued running of its 17 UK shopping centres
Intu chief executive Matthew Roberts has reportedly stepped down a week after the shopping centre owner collapsed into administration.
Employees were informed by administrators KPMG of Roberts’ decision to leave the role he had held since April last year, Sky News reported.
The announcement about Roberts’ exit comes as the administrators retain key Intu operational staff to ensure the continued running of its 17 UK shopping centres.
READ MORE:
- Intu: What went wrong?
- Canadian pension fund pushes for Trafford Centre sale following Intu’s collapse
Intu, which had been in London’s FTSE-250 index as recently as last year, saw its troubles accelerated by the coronavirus pandemic, with numerous retailers withholding rent payments in March and June.
Roberts had been Intu’s finance chief before being promoted to the helm last year.
He had made some progress during the last year in tackling the shopping centre giant’s debt-gorged balance sheet, selling £600 million of assets to pay off some of its borrowings.
In recent days, the administrators have successfully secured £12 million from creditors to enable Intu’s centres to remain open for a six-month period.
Last week, the Canadian pension fund Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) that didn’t agree to Intu’s 15-month debt standstill, pushing it into administration, was planning to seize control of Intu’s Trafford Centre via a £250 million loan secured against it.
Intu employs about 3000 staff across the UK while a further 102,000 work for the shops within its 17 shopping centres in the country.
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