Winding up petition against Patisserie Valerie is dismissed
Patisserie Valerie has announced that a winding up petition against its principal trading subsidiary has been dismissed by the High Court.
The petition against Stonebeach Limited was filed by HMRC on 14 September over a £1.14m unpaid tax bill. Directors had been unaware of the petition until earlier this month when it was discovered following the suspension of trading in shares amid an investigation into accounting irregularities.
The company later said historical statements on the cash position of the company were mis-stated and subject to both fraudulent activity and accounting irregularities, including undeclared overdrafts amounting to £10m.
Investor Luke Johnson put up a £20m rescue package, consisting of a £10m loan and a further bridging loan of up to £10m, which was provided alongside the issuing of 30,000,000 new shares, which raised £15.7m.
The crisis-hit bakery has also today released details of the status of its long-term incentive plan for executives following reports in the media.
Within the update, which details the options granted to former chief finance director Chris Marsh and chief executive Paul May, Patisserie Valerie stated: "The company¸ as part of the ongoing investigation, is seeking to understand why the grant of options relating to 2015 and 2016 have not been appropriately disclosed and accounted for in its financial statements."
Marsh was arrested on suspicion of fraud by false representation on 11 October and has been released on bail.
Patisserie Valerie finance director arrested on suspicion of fraud>>
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Patisserie Valerie had secret overdrafts amounting to £10m>>
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