The UK’s biggest shopping centre group confirmed it had formally applied to appoint KPMG as administrators and that the Financial Conduct Authority had suspended its share listings following a failure to agree a standstill on debt repayments with its lenders overnight.

Intu said earlier in the week as talks were ongoing that its falling into administration might lead to some of its centres closing, but in its announcement to the City the landlord said the “underlying group operating companies remain unaffected” and that all 14 sites would continue trading.

The announcement brings to the end a long-running saga that has seen the embattled landlord group stumble from one crisis to the next.