Administrators appointed to 15 Opal companies 

Administrators from KPMG have been appointed to two groups of companies which are part of the Opal Group.

David Crawshaw and Rob Croxen, restructuring partners at the firm, were today appointed joint administrators to six companies which own four student accommodation buildings, a private rental building and a land asset that are located in Sheffield, Nottingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Wrexham. 

Separately, Colin Haig and Brian Green, restructuring partners at KPMG, were appointed joint administrators to nine companies which are the part of the Opal Group on 18 March 2013.   These businesses own eight student accommodation buildings, two hotels and two private rental buildings, which are predominantly located in the North West. 

In both cases, the appointment of administrators to the companies does not affect their day to day operations. 

Administrators from Grant Thornton have been appointed to Opal Property Group Limited, Opal Property Services Limited, Opal Trafford Limited and Opal Estates Limited which are the operating companies of the Opal Group.  The administrators from KPMG will work with the administrators of the operating companies to maintain business as usual at the sites.

David Crawshaw, joint administrator and restructuring partner at KPMG, said: “Opal Group has been unable to sustain its financial commitments in very challenging economic conditions.  Our primary aim is to avoid disruption or inconvenience to students and tenants at the sites.  We are now in the process of detailed analysis of the finances of the business, with a view to stabilising their operations.  We will make further updates as the case progresses.”

A number of other Opal Group companies are also in administration with insolvency practitioners from other accounting firms. 

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For further information please contact:

Dave Lafferty, Citypress

Tel: 0161 235 0318 / 07545 211 511

Email: dave.lafferty@citypress.co.uk

KPMG Press office: 020 7694 8773

Notes to Editors:

The appointments of David Crawshaw and Rob Croxen relate to the following businesses and locations:

• South Yorkshire One Limited – Sheffield 3 – 80 Hoyle Street, Sheffield

• Opal Nottingham Limited - Nottingham 1 – St Peter’s Street, Radford, Nottingham

• Opal Aigburth Limited – Aigburth Park – St Michaels Road, Liverpool

• Opal Condor Limited – Devell House, Wilmslow Park, Manchester

• Opal Wrexham Limited – Snowden Hall, Vicarage Hill, Wrexham

• OGSC Limited – land asset in Sheffield

The appointments of Colin Haig and Brian Green relate to the following businesses and locations:

• The Place For Living limited – The Place – Ducie Street, Manchester

• Opal Portfolio 3 Limited – Wilmslow Park – 211 Hathersage Road, Manchester

• Op3 Limited – Opal Court – 60 Lancaster Road, Leicester

• Opal (Yorkshire) Limited -  Opal 1 – 168 Pitfield Street, London

• Opal City Developments Limited – Chandos Hall – Granby Row, Manchester

• Opal Hospitality Limited – Weston Hall – Sackville Street, Manchester

• Opal Hospitality Limited – Manchester Conference Centre (MCC) – Sackville Street, Manchester

• Opal South Yorkshire Limited – Opal 1 – 51 Wellington Street, Sheffield

• Opal St Georges Limited – Opal 2 – 10 St Georges Close, Sheffield

• Opal St Georges Limited – Atlantic 1 – St Georges Close, Sheffield

• Opal St Georges Limited – Opal Villas – 167 Notte Street, Plymouth

• Oreno Homes Limited – The Pines – Disley, near Manchester

About KPMG

KPMG LLP, a UK limited liability partnership, is a subsidiary of KPMG Europe LLP and operates from 22 offices across the UK with over 12,000 partners and staff.  The UK firm recorded a turnover of £1.8 billion in the year ended September 2012. KPMG is a global network of professional firms providing Audit, Tax, and Advisory services. We operate in 156 countries and have 152,000 professionals working in member firms around the world. The independent member firms of the KPMG network are affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative ("KPMG International"), a Swiss entity.  KPMG International provides no client services.