Four London outlets of former Patisserie Holdings business Baker & Spice have been acquired by coffee chain Department of Coffee and Social Affairs (DOCASA).
The outlets in Belgravia, Chelsea, Maida Vale and in Selfridges on Oxford Street have changed hands, along with 68 employees.
A fifth Baker & Spice outlet, in Oxford, is not part of the deal and has been closed with the loss of 10 jobs.
The £2.5m acquisition comes a day after the sale of two other parts of Patisserie Holdings, which collapsed into administration last month.
Dublin-based private equity firm Causeway Capital, which also has investments in Bakers + Baristas, is taking on 96 Patisserie Valerie stores, while West Midlands-based wholesaler and distributor AF Blakemore has acquired all 21 Philpotts food-to-go stores across the UK. The combined value of the two deals was £13m.
“Following the earlier sales of Patisserie Valerie and Philpotts, we are pleased to conclude this deal which sees the highly-regarded London Baker & Spice stores transfer to Department of Coffee and Social Affairs,” said KPMG partner and joint administrator Dave Costley-Wood.
DOCASA currently has 14 sites in London and one each in Bristol and Manchester, and is planning new stores in all three cities. The business also operates ‘Internal Affairs’ coffee bars in a number of city businesses.
Its stores are supplied from the company’s kitchen and bakery in South London, where it bakes and produces cakes, pastries, bread, salads and sandwiches.
“We’re very excited to now own Baker & Spice, it’s a tremendous brand and the team are looking to build upon its success,” said DOCASA deputy chairman Matthew Gill.
Patisserie Holdings had narrowly avoided collapse last year after a black hole was discovered in its finances, but entered administration on 22 January after failing to renew banking facilities. More than 70 loss-making sites were shuttered immediately, including all Druckers stores and the company’s Spitalfields bakery, resulting in 920 redundancies.
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