Linklaters, Allen & Overy and Clifford Chance are among a line-up of firms to take roles advising on the administration process of major U.K. shopping centre owner Intu Properties.

Intu appointed KPMG as administrators on Friday, it said in a statement.

Linklaters is advising Intu on the administration, with partner Richard Hodgson leading. The firm previously advised Intu in 2018 when a consortium of investors considered a possible multibillion-pound takeover.

Fellow elite U.K. headquartered firms Allen & Overy and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer have also picked up roles.

A&O is advising Intu's rolling credit facility lenders, with partners Joel Ferguson and Jane Glancy leading, according to several people with knowledge of the situation.

Freshfields restructuring partner Adam Gallagher and real restate finance partner David Trott are advising lenders to one of Intu's larger subsidiary companies.

According to another two people close to the situation, several other firms are advising on various other substructures of the administration process. These include Clifford Chance, White & Case, Eversheds Sutherland and Akin Gump.

Linklaters is a long-standing adviser to Intu, previously advising it on a host of corporate mandates. The firm advised on the £1.3bn refinancing of four major U.K. shopping centres owned by Intu in 2015. In 2010, it advised Intu on its purchase of the Trafford Centre in Manchester for £1.65bn.

The news comes as retailers continue to struggle in a more pressurised environment due to COVID-19. Clothes and accessories retailer AllSaints made company voluntary arrangement applications in the U.K. and North America earlier in June, with Kirkland & Ellis advising.

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