Companies

Brown Thomas and Arnotts parent company Signa files for insolvency

The owner of Ireland’s two largest department stores filed for insolvency in Vienna after attempts to raise €600 million of short-term liquidity failed

The owner of two of Ireland’s largest department stores filed for insolvency in Vienna on Wednesday. Picture: Fergal Phillips

The parent company of Brown Thomas and Arnotts has filed for insolvency after a last-ditch attempt to raise emergency funding failed.

The management of Signa said it made the insolvency filing on Wednesday in Vienna with the goal of managing its restructuring as a debtor-in-possession, according to a statement from the company.

Brown Thomas Arnotts was sold, through its parent company Selfridges Group, in December 2021 to a Thai/Austrian consortium of two businesses, Central Group, ...