Patisserie Valerie latest: Sister brand Baker & Spice sells for seven figures

The parent firm of troubled cafe company Patisserie Valerie has sold its Baker & Spice business for £2.5m.

The deal, completed last night and confirmed this morning (February 15), saw the chain bought out of administration by the Department of Coffee & Social Affairs.

It follows rescue deals announced yesterday for the company’s Patisserie Valerie and Philpotts businesses, which sold for a combined £13m.

The management team at Patisserie Valerie secured backing from Dublin-based investor Causeway Capital, which is taking over 96 of its stores. The transaction is expected to save around 2,000 jobs.

A separate deal for sister brand Philpotts will save a further 21 stores.

Baker & Spice operates across locations in Belgravia, Chelsea, Maida Vale, Oxford and Selfridges London.

Patisserie Holdings was hit with an accounting scandal back in October, after which KPMG was hired to salvage the brand.

The professional services giant closed 70 outlets and kept the remaining 121 open, cutting 920 jobs. But when restructuring talks fell through in January, the business went into administration.

Retail billionaire Mike Ashley, owner of Sports Direct and Newcastle United, reportedly tried to buy Patisserie Valerie out of administration – although he later dropped the bid.

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