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| - British shopping centre giant Intu, already hit hard before the coronavirus lockdown, announced Friday that is has collapsed into administration after talks failed to restructure its finances. "Intu properties plc announces that application is being made for James Robert Tucker, Michael Robert Pink and David John Pike of KPMG LLP to be appointed as joint administrators to Intu," it said in a statement, adding that its shopping centres remain open. Administration is the process whereby a troubled company calls upon independent financial help in a bid to restructure and remain operational until a solution is found. The debt-laden firm, which owns 17 giant shopping malls including MetroCentre, the Trafford Centre in northern England, and Lakeside in the southeast, had been seeking to progress talks with creditors before a midnight deadline. "Discussions have been ongoing... However, insufficient alignment and agreement in relation to the terms of such standstill-based agreements has been achieved with financial stakeholders ahead of the above deadline," it added on Friday. "As such, application is being made for the administrators to be appointed to Intu and several other key central entities in the Intu Group." rfj/bmm
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