Orchid lenders send in PwC restructuring experts
Lender to the Orchid pub group has sent in PwC restructuring experts with the management's blessing
Key lender to
Orchid
Group, Britain’s fifth-biggest pub and restaurant group, which includes the
Bar Room Bar and Sri Thai chains, has sent in a
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) restructuring
team, with the management’s blessing.
HBOS, which
financed the £571m buyout of Orchid two years ago by private equity firm
GI Partners, has
recruited the accountancy firm to advise on the financial restructuring of the
group. PwC is understood also to have asked to be considered as administrator,
should it be necessary, The Times reports.
GI is reportedly paying for the review and has formally appointed the
accountancy firm, but PwC will report to both GI and the bank on the company’s
restructuring strategy.
According to experts, the restructuring industry has been flooded with
mandates in the pub sector, and predict it will undergo a series of
administrations before Christmas as lenders get tough.
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