Patisserie Valerie pushes back debt talks

19th Nov 2018 15:08

(Sharecast News) - Cafe owner Patisserie Holdings has pushed back the deadline for talks with its lenders. The operator of the Patisserie Value chain, which last month revealed that it had found a £40m black hole in its accounts and was on the verge of collapse, before chairman and main backer Luke Johnson stepped in to keep the company going by providing loans totalling around £20m. Finance director Chris Marsh, who was arrested and released on bail following the discovery of the accounting irregularities, resigned shortly after. The Serious Fraud Office has launched an investigation into potential fraud.Part of Johnson's debt was replaced by the £15m proceeds from a deeply discounted rights issue at the start of November, but the company has agreed to sew up all its outstanding indebtedness into a "consolidated, syndicated facility structure".On Monday, Patisserie Holdings, which has also replaced its chief executive with turnaround guru Stephen Francis, said it would complete its banking arrangements with its main lenders by 18 January.