Kate's Hotel Among Losers From HMV Collapse

The hotel where the Duchess of Cambridge spent her last night as a single woman is among the financial losers from the collapse of HMV, the high street music chain.

A 'statement of affairs' filed by Deloitte, HMV's administrator, reveals that London's plush Goring Hotel was owed nearly £700 when the retailer's board admitted defeat in the effort to keep it afloat in January.

HMV, whose stores in Hong Kong and Singapore to an Asian private equity firm as Deloitte continues to prune its portfolio of assets, collapsed owing its banking syndicate £109.6m.

The lenders, led by Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), recouped some of that money by selling their debt to Hilco, a specialist restructuring firm which is now in pole position to assume control of HMV.

According to a report in The Sun, Hilco is keen to take on 130 HMV shops in the UK, a deal which would preserve thousands of jobs. Hilco already owns HMV's Canadian stores.

Among the other creditors named in Deloitte's statement of affairs are a host of professional services firms such as Egon Zehnder, the headhunter, which was owed more than £6,000; KPMG, which was owed £155,000; and Ernst & Young, the accountant, which was owed £74,500.

Unsecured creditors are likely to lose out entirely from the decision to call in administrators. HMV fell victim to the surge in digital music sales and intensifying cost and competitive pressures on the high street.

Deloitte's formal administrator's report is likely to be published next week.

It declined to comment on the statement of affairs.