Connaught provides a wide range of services including property management for the public sector Property and environmental services giant Connaught is expected to formally enter administration later, putting thousands of jobs at risk.
The company, which specialises in social housing, said late on Tuesday it was “in the process of appointing administrators”.
However, it added that some subsidiaries would not be affected and would continue to trade “as normal”.
Earlier, the firm said it had failed to secure funding to pay £220m of debt.
Connaught employs almost 10,000 people. Trading in the company’s shares was suspended on Tuesday.
Reports suggest that rival firms, such as Mears, are ready to step in to take over some of Connaught’s contracts.
“The board is saddened to announce that it is in the process of appointing partners from KPMG as administrators of Connaught and its subsidiary, Connaught Partnerships, which comprises its social housing division,” the company said in a statement released on Tuesday.
It added that its other main subsidiaries, Connaught Compliance, National Britannia Holdings, Fountains and Connaught Environmental are not being placed into administration, and “will continue to trade normally”.
In an earlier statement, Connaught said it believed the funding it needed from its lenders to continue operating would “not be forthcoming”.
Connaught provides a wide range of services, including property management for the public sector and affordable housing projects.
It is also involved in waste management, cleaning and forestry services.
Connaught ran into serious difficulties in recent months after it became clear that a number of contracts would be loss-making.
In June, it warned that public spending cuts, designed to reduce the government’s budget deficit, would impact 31 projects, reducing its revenues by £80m this year.
This hit, it said, would push the company into the red for this year.
Shares in the Exeter-based company, which began life in 1982, have lost about 90% of their value since late June.
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