(Bloomberg) -- Shareholders ousted Debenhams Plc’s chairman and its chief executive officer from the board in a coup engineered by billionaire Mike Ashley after the troubled U.K. department-store chain’s woes deepened over the holidays.

Chairman Ian Cheshire said he’d step down after more than half of shareholders at the annual general meeting Thursday voted not to re-elect him. Investors also opposed Chief Executive Officer Sergio Bucher’s continuation as a director, though he’ll remain in the management role.

A Debenhams spokesman said two major shareholders voted against the reappointments: Ashley, the CEO of Sports Direct International Plc, who holds a roughly 29 percent stake; and Landmark Group Inc., a retail and hospitality company based in Dubai, which owns 7 percent.

Debenhams said earlier Thursday that it’s in talks with lenders as it faces at least 300 million pounds ($382 million) of debt coming due starting next year. The stalwart of British shopping districts, which has struggled to keep pace with Amazon.com Inc. and other online retailers, said discounting will likely impact its gross margin in the first half, following three profit warnings last year. It plans to close as many as 50 stores.

“The dramatic and sustained decline in Debenhams’ fortunes in the last three years is not simply down to wider physical retail market challenges,” Suzy Ross, senior adviser at Accenture Retail, said by email. “Debenhams is a cautionary reminder of the criticality of the right leadership and the right set of priorities to lead in these challenging times.”

Interim Chairman

Terry Duddy, Debenhams’ senior independent director, was named interim chairman. Cheshire’s decision to step down will take place with immediate effect, Debenhams said. He was appointed chairman in April 2016.

“The board is mindful of its responsibilities to all shareholders and has full confidence in Sergio and in the management’s plan to reshape the business,” the company said in a statement.

Debenhams has a 320 million-pound revolving-credit facility due in June 2020 and a 200 million-pound bond maturing in July 2021. It had drawn 161 million pounds on the facility as of September, according to the company’s full-year results.

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