Southern Cross set to wind down

Shares in Southern Cross Healthcare were suspended on Monday after the struggling care home operator announced plans to "facilitate [an] orderly closure" of its affairs.The announcement came after months of deliberation since the company began to seek a financial restructuring on 14 March "to preserve continuity and quality of care to its 31,000 residents."Consequently, landlords of all 752 homes have indicated their intention to leave the group."Although still subject to the possibility of further change, it is currently envisaged that the existing Group will cease to be an operator of homes at the end of the restructuring period," the firm said. Little or no value will be attributable to the Southern Cross's shareholders as a result of the closure."We anticipate that the period of uncertainty which we have been experiencing will now draw to a close.  We regret the loss of value which shareholders have experienced," said chairman Christopher Fisher."My objective, and that of my team, is to continue to provide excellent care to every resident and to manage the programme of transition professionally.  All 44,000 staff can take pride from the significant operational turnaround and improvements in care delivery which have been achieved over the past two years," said the company's chief executive, Jamie Buchan.BC -3x Short China