RBS faces £300m writedown in Four Seasons rescue

by Gill Montia

Story link: RBS faces £300m writedown in Four Seasons rescue

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is part of a consortium that could be forced to write down over £800 million in connection with Four Seasons.

The with troubled nursing home provider, which has been in refinancing talks for over a year, owes around £1.6 billion to lenders including RBS, Fortis and Nationwide.

Half of the debt is now expected to be converted into shares, with RBS set to own 40% of the company at a cost of £300 million.

RBS first attempted to rescue Four Seasons in July of 2008 when the chain’s owner, the Qatar Investment Authority, was considering placing the business in administration.

At the time, the bank tried to negotiate a merger between Four Seasons and Priory Healthcare.

The group became a major shareholder in the addiction and psychiatric disorders clinic chain in 2007 when it acquired ABN Amro, but terms of a merger could not be agreed.

Four Seasons owns and operates over 400 care centres and nursing homes, and employs over 21,000 staff.