Causeway Capital buys Patisserie Valerie out of administration

Causeway said it will maintain 96 branches across the UK. The investment will be Causeway’s sixth from its maiden fund Causeway Capital Partners I, which closed in 2016 on €60m. It invests in growth equity and buyout transactions for UK and Ireland SMEs, investing between €2.5m and €10m.  Prior to the deal it was around 50% deployed.

Patisserie Valerie was part of Patisserie Holdings plc, which also announced it had sold off a smaller catering chain called Philpotts. The combined value of both sales was £13m. Baker and Spice, another small subsidiary, has been sold for £2.5m.

The group entered administration last month after the discovery of fraud in its accounts. The trading cancellation of its shares is scheduled for 25 February.

Previous funding
Risk Capital Partners backed the management buyout of Patisserie Valerie for an undisclosed amount in 2004 before floating the company on the London Stock Exchange in 2014.

Company
Founded in London in 1926, Patisserie Valerie is a café and casual dining business offering cakes, pastries, snacks, meals and hot and cold drinks. Its shares were suspended in October last year after the discovery of fraud in its accounts.

People
Causeway Capital – Matt Scaife (partner).
Patisserie Valerie – Steve Francis (CEO).

Advisers
Equity – Burges Salmon Solicitors (legal).

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• Topics
• Turnaround/Special Situations
• Buyouts
• Consumer
• UK / Ireland
• United Kingdom