V&D is paying 8% interest to its owner Sun Capital: RTLZ

Department store group V&D is playing 8% interest on a loan of millions of euros to its owner, private equity investor Sun Capital, broadcaster RTLZ says on Wednesday.

The broadcaster bases its claims on internal V&D documents.

Sun Capital took over V&D in 2010 and invested €105m in the stores, of which €65 was in the form of three loans. Last month Sun Capital injected a further €60m into the company, of which half was a loan. In total, almost half of the €165m which Sun has invested in V&D is in the form of four loans.

Although neither side will state what the interest rates are, the internal documents show that one €10m loan from 2013 is liable for an 8% interest payment – or €800,000 a year, RTLZ says.

Although banks rarely charge such high interest rates, ‘you often see them in this sort of take over,’ bankruptcy expert Marc Udink told the broadcaster. ‘In fact V&D is paying for its own takeover.’

V&D is currently in serious financial trouble. The company, which has 63 department stores in the Netherlands, has agreed a temporary rent cut with its landlords and is in talks with the unions on reducing the workforce wages.