The creditors of Chorion are preparing to place the company into administration just a week after the departures of its chairman, the Labour peer Lord Alli, and his deputy Viscount Astor.
It is understood that Chorion’s owner, the private equity firm 3i, has failed to find new funding for the company and is set to opt for administration because it stands to lose its £86 million investment into the business.
The company, which also owns the rights to the Agatha Christie series of crime novels, breached its covenants in March this year and has simultaneously failed to come to an agreement with creditors, which also include Lloyds Banking Group, on a refinancing package.
It was rumoured that 3i and Chorion were holding 11th hour talks with private equity houses in a bid to find fresh lines of capital, but a final deal could not be struck.
According to its most recent sect of accounts, for the year ending March 2010, Chorion has debts of around £70 million and annual interest payments of £35 million.
For the same period, the company’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of £14.9 million, while revenue reached £51.7 million.
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