Cantillon: Can the Roches and Debenhams do a deal?

It will be interesting to see how the appointment of a new group chief executive at Debenhams, former Amazon executive Sergio Bucher, will affect its dynamic with the Roche family, landlords of Debenhams' flagship Irish stores in Dublin.

Debenhams is in examinership, from which it hopes to emerge with lower rent and staff costs. The Roches, who sold Roches Stores to Debenhams in 2006, remain its landlord on the Henry Street store and another in Cork.

Together, those two stores account for 40 per cent of total sales at Debenhams 11-store Irish portfolio.

A deal with the Roches is crucial to the examinership.

Richard Roche told the High Court this week that over the past two years he has held frequent talks in Dublin and London with the property director of Debenhams UK parent group, and also with Michael Sharp, the now former group chief.

Roche said the talks were for “the specific purpose of exploring store reconfigurations and the potential for mutually beneficial arrangements regarding the payment of rent”.

In the end, the talks came to nothing. They appear to have broken down in some acrimony, judging by the timing of Roche’s High Court submission.

Roche says he is prepared to revive the talks, although he appears more interested in a “store reconfiguration” at the flagship Henry Street outlet than reducing the headline rent.

Debenhams has also recently appointed a new chairman, Ian Cheshire, who previously ran B&Q. The DIY chain famously utilised Ireland's examinership laws to help reduce its rent bill here under Cheshire's watch in 2013.

Can Bucher and Roche succeed in agreeing a rent deal where none was possible under Sharp?

It would seem to be in the interest of both sides to strike a deal.

It would suit neither for the examinership to fail, not to mention the interests of the 2,200 workers.