High street giant Debenhams has gone into administration.
It means the department store will now fall into the hands of the retailer's lenders, following a so-called pre-pack administration arrangement.
A pre-pack administration lets a company sell itself, or its assets, as a going concern, without affecting the operation of the business.
Debenhams said its 165 outlets would continue to trade under a pre-pack deal which only affects its listed holding company.
However, the move is tipped to trigger store closures and job losses which could number several thousand.
The move also wipes out the stake held by Sports Direct tycoon Mike Ashley in the business, and those of all other shareholders.
Plans for an emergency shareholder meeting, in which Mr Ashley was to seek his appointment to the board and attempt to oust most other directors, were cancelled.
Administrators at FTI Consulting were appointed to the retailer at just before 10am on Tuesday and immediately sold the group's operating companies to a new entity owned by its lenders.
The process does not affect the retailer's pension scheme, suppliers, landlords or its immediate trading plans.
Chairman Terry Duddy said: "It is disappointing to reach a conclusion that will result in no value for our equity holders.
"However, this transaction will allow Debenhams to continue trading as normal; access the funding we need; and proceed with executing our turnaround plans, whilst deleveraging the group's balance sheet.
"We remain focused on protecting as many stores and jobs as possible, consistent with establishing a sustainable store portfolio in line with our previous guidance."
What will happen to the stores?
Before the administration announcement the number of stores that were ear-marked for closure had been growing. In October last year the figure was around 50, in January this year it had grown to 90.
Debenhams has 165 stores in the UK, with 10 in Wales. They are in Newport, Cardiff, Merthyr Tydfil, Swansea, Llanelli, Carmarthen, Haverfordwest, Bangor, Wrexham, and Llandudno.
If 90 stores are to close that would result in a loss of around 10,000 jobs.
Who is Mike Ashley? And what was his involvement in Debenhams?
Mike Ashley is the founder and owner of the Sports Direct brand.
At the age of 18 he opened his first shop using a £10,000 loan from his family. The number of stores grew rapidly and in 2007 the business was floated on the London Stock Exchange - Merrill Lynch had valued the business at £2.5bn.
In 2007 he took control of Newcastle United, buying the club for £135m. His tenure at the club has been controversial and has been criticised recently for his investment for new players in the summer transfer window.
The self-made billionaire was ranked at number 58 on the Sunday Times Rich List in 2018.
Mr Ashley had a 30% stake in Debenhams and a few hours before Debenhams went into administration he made a revised £200 million rescue offer.
The offer involved underwriting a rights issue which would have seen existing investors buying newly-issued shares and was an advance on an £150 million plan tabled on Monday, which was rejected.
Under the proposal, Debenhams' lenders would have had to agree to write off £82 million of its £720 million debt mountain, as well as install the tycoon as chief executive.
Lenders to Debenhams said the proposal, on the terms set out, was "not sufficient".
Debenhams said in a statement: "The board confirms that it received a revised, highly-conditional, proposal from Sports Direct in the early hours of April 9, which indicated a willingness of Sports Direct to underwrite an equity issue of £200 million.
"The company's lenders have confirmed to the company that the proposal, on the terms set out, was not sufficient to justify an extension to the 8 April deadline."
What is pre-pack administration?
A pre-tax administration is an insolvency procedure in which a company arranges to sell all or some of its assets to a buyer before appointing an administrator to facilitate the sale.
A new company is then created to take the business forward in a debt free position without being tied to the creditors of the previous business.
In the case of Debenhams the lenders have come together to drive the pre-pack.
Video explains what you need to know about going into administration
