Patisserie Valerie shareholders felt forced to back rescue plan

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Patisserie Valerie’s shareholders have voiced their fury at the firm’s chairman, Luke Johnson, despite backing his rescue plan for the business.

At an emergency general meeting, more than 99% of shareholders backed a plan to issue £15m of new shares.

However, investors in the 206-store chain harangued chairman Luke Johnson. They felt cheated that new investors are getting a share of the company at a knock-down price.

Shareholders also accused Johnson of ‘holding a gun’ to their heads over the rescue deal.

Johnson was forced to lend Patisserie Holdings – which owns the Patisserie Valerie chain – £20m of his own money to prevent its collapse after directors said it required an immediate cash injection.

He said today that the firm had been ‘three hours from going into bankruptcy’, adding that he would be reducing his other commitments to focus on rescuing Patisserie Valerie.

The chain is still fighting for survival after revealing last month it had uncovered ‘significant, and potentially fraudulent, accounting irregularities’. Trading in the company’s shares has been temporarily halted.

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Author: Caterlyst

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