Le Pain Quotidien is in talks with several potential parties who might want to invest in the bakery chain. All talks are just in a preliminary phase and there is no urgent need for additional funds anyway.
“Not a necessity”
“A new partner can be interesting for Le Pain Quotidien, but it is not a necessity”, Le Pain Quotidien’s chairman Jean-Marie Laurent Josi told De Tijd. “I want to emphasize we will not be sell the entire company at all.”
A few Belgian companies, all owning about 10 to 20 %, currently own the company’s shares, with founder Alain Coumont in control of 3 to 4 % himself.
The chain closed 2015 with 238 restaurants worldwide and an 11 % turnover growth to 355 million dollars (326 million euro), but it would have been a 21 % turnover increase if the (negative) exchange rate fluctuations are ignored.
In the meantime, the company is still working on the chain’s expansion, opening its first Hong Kong store next week and adding restaurants in Dublin, Lausanne, Miami, Texas, San Francisco and Boston. It hopes to add 30 restaurants over the course of the year, including one in Ghent and Bruges.
