LONDON, July 3- British coffee retailer Coffee Republic looked set to go into administration on Friday after it asked for its shares to be suspended from trading.

â The board of Coffee Republic has requested the suspension of the quotation of its shares pending clarification of the financial position of certain subsidiaries including Coffee Republic (UK) Limited, the principal UK operating company,â the firm said.

It said documents had been lodged with the court in anticipation of the appointment of administrators to these subsidiaries.

Administration is a form of protection from creditors. Nobody was immediately available for comment at Coffee Republic.

Shares in Coffee Republic, which have lost two thirds of their value over the last year, closed Friday up 2 percent at 22 pence, valuing the business at £2.8m ($4.6m).