Concerns are being raised for thousands of elderly residents as care home giant Four Seasons face collapse into administration.
The company, which houses 17,000 elderly residents across 322 homes, is set to appoint corporate undertakers at Alvarez & Marsal to begin the process.
However, the firm insists that operations and care home residents will not be affected.
A spokesman told the Evening standard that two holding companies from the Four Seasons group will go into administration.
The move comes in order to save the operations of the company which will then be sold off in bulk but debt free.
He said: "Administrators are about to be appointed to the holding companies in the Four Seasons Health Care Group.
"The actual operating company is not going into administration, and will be sold over the next few months.
"No homes are going to be closed, no residents are going to be moved, no nurses will be cut.
"It is a restructuring method to change the group."
Late last year, US hedge fund H2 Capital Partners, which effectively controls Four Seasons, ordered a sale of the crisis-hit company.
The bulk of the debt is held by H2, which is run by Spencer Haber.
Only weeks ago, Four Seasons insisted that it had "sufficient operating liquidity" to be able to complete the sale process.
A&M will now attempt to sell the group out of administration.
The collapse of the Four Seasons holding companies is the latest in a sorry saga for the group, which is still nominally owned by Guy Hands' private equity vehicle Terra Firma.
Terra Firma bought Four Seasons for £825 million in 2012 and has been forced to stomach a £450 million writedown on its investment.
There have been acute worries over Four Seasons' financial performance and debt pile for several years.
It has been stung by a cut in local authority fees, rising costs and the introduction of the national living wage.
The group has continuously warned over its long-term stability.
Dr Claire Royston, Group Medical Director of Four Seasons Health Care, said in a statement: “Today’s news does not change the way we operate or how our homes are run or prompt any change for residents, families, employees and indeed suppliers.
"Our priority remains to deliver consistently good care. It marks the latest stage in the Group’s restructuring process and allows us to move ahead with an orderly, independent sales process."
Additional Reporting by PA.
