NEW Look has won a legal battle against landlords who had challenged its restructuring plan.

The Weymouth-headquartered fashion chain had won approval from creditors for a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) which would cut its rent bill.

The arrangement, launched last September, put the New Look stores onto turnover-based rents as revenues plunged because of the pandemic.

The proposals were approved by the required majority of creditors, but several landlords launched a legal challenge.

London property giant Lazari and the Trafford Centre Ltd were among the landlords leading the challenge, which argued that CVAs did not have jurisdiction over complex “differential arrangements”.

The challenge said the majority of votes in favour of the deal were from creditors who were “unimpaired by the CVA”.

But a judge rejected three challenges made to the High Court.

New Look chief executive Nigel Oddy said: “We are pleased that the court has ruled in our favour and would like to take this opportunity to thank our people, our landlords and all our creditors for their ongoing support.

“With the court hearing now behind us, we are able to focus on delivering our strategy and enhancing our position as one of the UK’s leading omnichannel womenswear retailers.

“With all our stores around the UK now open and the Republic of Ireland reopening on May 17, we are delighted to be able to once again serve our customers face to face and we can look to the future with confidence.”

READ MORE: New Look launches major restructuring of finances

Launching its restructuring last year, New Look said it was asking landlords to accept rents based on turnover as it battled a “challenging retail market environment”.

It said the CVA proposal would bring down its rent and “safeguard 12,000 jobs” at the business.

It launched a sale process to determine interest from investors in its shares and assets.

READ MORE: New Look boss still gloomy about future of the high street

The restructuring was also aimed at injecting £40million into the business to drive growth while slashing its debts from £550m to £100m through a debt-for-equity swap deal.