PATISSERIE VALERIE
Chairman saves crisis-hit British chain of cafes
The new equity and debt injection helps save 2,500 jobs and staves off the company’s collapse
Patisserie Valerie, the British cafe chain rocked by an accounting scandal and the arrest of its finance boss, has been saved thanks to £20m of loans from its chairman, entrepreneur Luke Johnson. Patisserie Holdings said on Friday Johnson had stumped up loans, giving it the breathing space to raise £15.7m in a heavily discounted placing announced later in the day. The new equity and debt injection helped save 2,500 jobs and stave off the company’s collapse after it was plunged into crisis on Wednesday when accounting irregularities emerged and Britain’s tax office said it was owed £1.14m. The chain revealed the extent of its problems on Friday when it said it needed £20m immediately to prevent its collapse, saying core earnings for the financial year would likely be £12m, 60% lower than consensus. Patisserie Valerie said earlier on Friday that its suspended finance director Chris Marsh had been arrested and released on bail. Britain’s anti-fraud agency said separately it had opened ...
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