Intu Properties, one of Britain’s largest shopping centre owners, is battling to stave off collapse and has appointed accountancy firm KPMG to act as administrator if it cannot reach agreement with its creditors.

Intu, which has debts of more than £4.5bn, confirmed last month it was seeking debt standstill agreements with some of its lenders as it battles for survival after a collapse in rental payments from retailers. It owns 17 shopping centres across the UK, including the Trafford Centre in Manchester and Lakeside in Essex, and lost £2bn last year.

The company has until Friday to come to a financial agreement with its lenders.

Intu warned that if it could not reach an agreement it would need to pay its potential administrators upfront. If it cannot find the cash to make those payments, the company said the shopping centres “may have to close for a period”.

Intu employs directly about 2,500 people and had furloughed 60% of employees in its malls and 20% of those at its head office.

Its share price has collapsed by more than 90% over the past year and is currently trading under 5p.

Intu’s announcement came a day before the June “quarter day” when retailers and companies that rent space in commercial property usually have to pay rent for the third quarter of the year.

The company collected just 29% of the rent it was owed for the second quarter on the day it was due at the end of March.

If the company collapses into administration, the sale process would be complicated by the complex structure of the group and, if a buyer for the whole company was not forthcoming, its assets could end up being sold off separately.

Intu owns nine of the top 20 shopping centres in the UK. Malls such as the Trafford Centre, Lakeside and Gateshead’s Metrocentre would probably attract potential buyers, although its smaller regional malls may prove less popular.

The group, which also has two shopping centres in Spain, was struggling before the coronavirus pandemic as a result of its debt pile and the fact that some of its biggest tenants including Debenhams, House of Fraser and Topshop closed stores and demanded rent cuts so that they could stay solvent.

Under the standstill agreements sought, the company would not have to pay back what it has borrowed until the end of 2021.

Intu has warned that some of its creditors are unwilling to grant it the requested 18-month standstill, and will allow only a 15-month break from repaying its debt.

The group said it was still in negotiations with its creditors but there was “no certainty as to whether Intu will achieve a standstill, or on what terms or for what duration”.

Intu previously warned it was likely to breach its debt commitments at the end of June as stock market volatility, combined with a downturn in the property market, had prevented it from raising new funds.

The company stated that it would require cash injections from its creditors to pay shopping centre staff.

Landlords are expecting to receive significantly less rent than they are owed from the retail and hospitality chains that rent space from them and were forced to close their doors for at least 12 weeks during the lockdown.

Intu has previously threatened to get tough with large, well-capitalised retailers that refused to pay their rent. However, commercial landlords are currently banned by the government from taking legal action against non-paying tenants until the end of September.

Prominent retailers including fashion chains Primark and JD Sports and high street chemist Boots were among those that did not pay rent to their landlords at the end of March, shortly after the country went into lockdown.

Intu has been in talks with the majority of its tenants, and has introduced measures including moving from quarterly to monthly payments, and reducing service charges.

While the company expects to have more success in collecting rent during the second half of the year, it has forecast it will receive £310m rent in 2020, one-third (37%) less than the £490m it was paid last year.