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One of Britain’s largest care home groups, Four Seasons Health Care, is on the brink of administration.
Two of the holding companies behind the firm are expected to appoint administrators on Tuesday after struggling to repay their debts.
The group serves about 17,000 residents and patients and employs some 20,000 staff.
If it goes under, it would not affect care arrangements or lead to the closure of homes.
According to Sky News, which first reported the news, it would be the biggest collapse of a care homes business since Southern Cross in 2011.
Four Seasons Health Care said it would issue a statement later on Tuesday.
Professional services firm Alvarez & Marsal (A&M) has been chosen to handle the administration.
It is understood that while the holding companies – Elli Finance (UK) and Elli Investments – are on the brink of collapse, the care homes business itself is not.
Administrators will seek to sell the group in the coming months, freeing it of its historic debts.
Four Seasons, which has 253 residential and nursing care homes, has been struggling to restructure its more than £500m debt pile for several years.
