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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Business
Simon Goodley

Bust companies revived in ‘phoenix’ deals more likely to fail again, study finds

Closing Down Sale posters in a shop window in Durham, North east England.
Research shows that 44% of ‘pre-pack’ administration agreements made in 2019 resulted in a second insolvency by July 2026. Photograph: Richard Saker/The Guardian

Insolvent businesses reacquired by their previous management in “pre-pack” administrations are much more likely to fail again and tend to repay far less to creditors, research for the Guardian suggests.

The study is the latest to raise questions about the practice of “phoenixism” – accounting’s controversial art of liquidating companies to allow directors to return with a new entity, free of debts.

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