The personal fairness agency which took management of Cote, the French restaurant chain, on the peak of the pandemic is kicking off an public sale of the enterprise
Cote was purchased out of administration by Companions Group within the autumn of 2020 in a deal reportedly price £55m.
Sources near the sale course of stated that Interpath was advertising and marketing the corporate based mostly on final yr’s turnover of over £150m.
The chain trades from greater than 70 websites throughout the UK, down from near 100 shortly earlier than it collapsed into insolvency 5 years in the past.
Roughly 60 of the websites are stated to be worthwhile, implying there might be scope for additional closures.
The sale comes at a time when hospitality venue operators proceed to face extreme monetary pressures, with the business’s main commerce physique warning of an extra jobs massacre within the months forward.
“If we carry on with these trends and the situation doesn’t improve — and clearly Rachel Reeves’s statements are giving a signal to consumers that it is not going to get better any time soon – then I would see this accelerating,” stated Kate Nicholls, chair of UK Hospitality.
“Unless there is a change of tack by the government, we are looking at 150,000-200,000 fewer workers in hospitality during the first full year of [employer national insurance contribution] changes.”
Companions Group declined to remark, whereas Interpath couldn’t be reached for remark.
