West Ham sponsor Alpari in administration after rescue talks fail

West Ham FC’s sponsor, foreign exchange broker Alpari UK, has collapsed into administration after weekend rescue talks failed to deliver a buyer. A team of restructuring experts from KPMG were appointed as special administrators to the firm, which was scuppered by the Swiss central bank’s decision last week to abandon its attempt to peg the franc to the euro.

In a statement, KPMG said that Alpari and many of its clients had suffered large losses in volatile foreign exchange markets. Despite a weekend of discussions with potential buyers, it had been unable to secure a deal.

Alpari UK employs around 170 people at its offices in London’s Square Mile.

“Following the announcement by the Swiss National Bank last week, Alpari UK sustained substantial losses as a result of negative client balances, and was faced with no other choice but to enter into special administration,” said Richard Heis, one of the joint special administrators. “We have had a number of inquiries from interested parties in relation to the company’s business. We will be speaking with these parties and others over the next few days, and hope to secure a deal to preserve the business and jobs as far as possible.”

The special administration regime was introduced in the wake of the Lehman Brothers collapse to ensure the failure of an investment firm results in the minimum of disruption to financial markets.

Alpari UK, which signed a £9m, three-year deal with West Ham in 2013, said it was insolvent on Friday after many of its clients sustained losses that exceeded their account equity, with the company then forced to foot the bill. Funds held on behalf of clients were kept in separate accounts, as required by Financial Conduct Authority rules, and KPMG said $98.5m would be returned to customers.