By Sam Tobin
LONDON (Reuters) – Legal and professional services firm Ince Group Plc plans to enter administration and pursue a sale of the company, it said on Wednesday, amid cash concerns and repeated delays in reporting its financial results.
Ince’s directors applied to London’s High Court on Wednesday to appoint administrators under UK insolvency law in relation to the company and four subsidiaries, court filings show.
Trading in Ince on London’s Alternative Investment Market was suspended from Jan. 3 following delays in publishing the company’s annual report for the year ending Mar. 31, 2022.
Ince is one of just a handful of listed British law firms, which include DWF Group and Keystone Law Group.
Ince said in a statement on Wednesday that its audit was still incomplete, and that the stock suspension and ongoing audit had put “increasing pressure” on its cash flows.
The company said an unnamed major creditor had said it would “no longer continue to support the business”, forcing it to place Ince into administration.
UK-based financial restructuring firm Quantuma will be appointed as Ince’s administrator and is expected to “implement a sale of the group’s business to a third party purchaser as soon as possible”, the company said.
Ince’s share price plunged 94% from a high in mid-April 2021 to January when trading in the stock was suspended.
The shares fell more than 50% in July after it announced a plan to raise around 7 million pounds ($8.7 million) to avert financial difficulties.
Ince also said last year that a March 2022 cyberattack would cost the company nearly 5 million pounds.
(Reporting by Sam Tobin; Editing by David Bario and Richard Chang)
