...Fitch Ratings downgraded New Look Retail Group Ltd's (New Look) Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to `Restricted Default' (RD) from `CC' in April 2018, following completion of the Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA), which Fitch views as a distressed debt exchange (DDE) based on its existing criteria. Subsequently, Fitch upgraded New Look's IDR to `CC', which the agency believes reflects the post-DDE credit profile given ongoing restructuring and liquidity risks. The agency has also affirmed New Look Secured Issuer plc's 2022 senior secured notes at `C' with a Recovery Rating of `RR5'/20% (previously: `C'/RR5/23%) and New Look Senior Issuer plc's senior notes at `C' with a Recovery Rating of `RR6'/0%. Fitch views the use of a CVA, a document filed with a UK court, as a critical factor in applying the DDE due to its collective and coercive nature on a particular creditor class. The CVA has enabled the company to come to a compromise agreement with landlord creditors and avoid an administration...
