Charterhouse Capital Partners-owned Vivarte has suspended interest and amortisation payments on its roughly €2.8 billion debt pile to free up cash as it continues to negotiate over a looming covenant breach.

The French retail group, which owns brands including Kookai and Naf Naf, held a meeting yesterday with its lenders and a court-appointed mediator, or mandataire ad hoc, where it outlined plans to revamp the business, according to a company statement