Pat Val estate ‘likely to be sold off in chunks’

Ahead of today’s deadline for initial bids for the remaining Patisserie Holdings estate, it is looking increasingly likely that it will be sold off in chunks.

The FT this morning reports that people who have assessed the company say administrator KPMG has provided only very limited financial information from October and November last year. An internal report into the accounting irregularities at the group said financial statements dating back up to six years may not be reliable.

Sports Direct tycoon Mike Ashley has been linked with the group but is not thought to have submitted a formal bid. Similarly, private equity firms Rcapital and Endless are not thought to have put in a formal bid.

There has been more interest from buyers considering acquiring individual Patisserie Valerie sites, the FT reports. Costa Coffee, now owned by Coca-Cola, and privately owned Caffè Nero are among those that have looked at parcels of stores, the people said. Both companies declined to comment.

David Scott, the former MD of Druckers, has indicated he intends to bid for a substantial number of the chain’s stores plus the company’s bakery in Birmingham, which is a freehold asset.

A senior adviser on corporate transactions in the leisure sector added: “With a fraud it is very difficult for many people to look at it. The usual suspects will be looking at it because that is what they do, but I think it will be hard for them to bid.”

KPMG declined to comment on Thursday.

Meanwhile, The Times has reported that Patisserie Valerie’s executive chairman Luke Johnson and its former chief executive, Paul May, are the ultimate owners of the chain’s Tunbridge Wells branch. The freehold to the site in Kent is held by Tunbridge Freeholds, a company equally held by the two and with Mr May as the only director, according to Companies House filings.

A spokesman for the company said the related-party transaction was not disclosed because it was not considered material enough.