Bell Pottinger applies for administration
The UK-based firm found guilty of inciting racial hatred during its controvertial campaign for a Gupta-owned company, has applied to be placed under administration.
London based financial advisor BDO, confirms in a statement on its website that it's overseeing the process.
The statement was released on Tuesday afternoon and reads:
"Bell Pottinger has been heavily financially impacted by the well-publicised issues resulting in losses of clients, partners and staff and culminating in the expulsion from the Public Relations and Communications Association (‘PRCA’).
Late last week, the level of those losses, compounded by the inability of the business to win new clients, was such that remaining management were left with no option but to commence the process to place all UK Bell Pottinger entities into administration.
A notice of intention to appoint three partners in BDO as administrators was filed on the evening of Friday 8 September 2017. The appointment became effective today, 12 September 2017.
The entities in administration are: Bell Pottinger Private Ltd, Bell Pottinger LLP and Bell Pottinger Services Ltd. None of the subsidiaries outside the UK is in administration; they continue to trade under the control of their separate management teams.
A BDO spokesman said:
“Following an immediate assessment of the financial position, the administrators have made a number of redundancies. The administrators are now working with the remaining partners and employees to seek an orderly transfer of Bell Pottinger’s clients to other firms in order to protect and realise value for creditors. We have taken appropriate steps to preserve the rights Bell Pottinger may have in relation to the failure of the business.”
Bell Pottinger experienced an exodus of top clients and suffered months of financial losses after the details of its campaign emerged.
It lead to a disciplinary hearing by the UK’s Public Relations and Communications Association, which found the firm guilty of inciting racial hatred and also dumping the PR industry into disrepute.