Four Seasons care-home appoints administrators

Four Seasons Britain’s second biggest care home operator appoints administrators to push through a sale in a last-ditch attempt to save a business that cares for 17,000 residents.

Terra Firma, The chain’s previous private equity owner which set up two holding companies are in administration  and will enable the US hedge fund that seized control to sell the business without any continuing obligations. Four Seasons which employs over 20, 000 staff will continue to operate as usual and is hoping to be sold by the end of the year, a stock exchange announcement said yesterday.

The group which bought in debt fuelled £825m deal by Guy Hands’ Terra Firma in 2012, has in effect been in the hands of  H/2 Capital Partners, its largest creditor, since running out of cash in December 2017. Mr Hands has had his group’s equity wiped out and has taken £450, loss on the business as it struggled to service the debt.

All Four of Britain’s biggest care home businesses –HC-One, Four Seasons, Barchester and Care UK are up for sale  and struggling to find buyers as a result of Brexit-related downturn in commercial property sales and a long-term decline in fees paid by local authorities for elderly care.

In the meanwhile, H/2 had agreed to put additional funding into Four Seasons to ensure that its care homes could continue to operate while the sales process was completed.

Claire Royston, Group medical director of Four Seasons said  “This marks the latest stage in the group’s restructuring process and allows us to move ahead with an orderly independent sales process”.

Terra Firm still owns 24 ex-Four Seasons care homes, which are also up for sale.