Thu 1st Nov 2018 - Patisserie Holdings shareholders back rescue plan Patisserie Holdings shareholders back rescue plan: Shareholders at Patisserie Holdings have backed a £15.7m rescue plan for the company. At an emergency general meeting, more than 99% of shareholders backed a plan to issue £15m of new shares. The move will see 35,322,432 of new ordinary shares issued. As a result of the new shares being issued, chairman Luke Johnson will see his stake in the company reduce to 28.54%, while chief executive Paul May’s will fall to 3.37%. Despite approving the deal, shareholders are reported to have vented their anger at Johnson, who said the company had been “three hours from going into bankruptcy”. Shares in Patisserie Holdings have been suspended since the discovery of a £40m black hole in its accounts last month. The company said earlier today (Thursday, 1 November) that due to the ongoing investigation it would provide no new information on the company’s financial position or be in a position to say when the suspension to trading in shares might be lifted. Johnson stepped in with a rescue deal after the discovery of the “black hole” pushed the company to the brink of collapse. Finance director Chris Marsh, who was arrested and released on bail, resigned from the company last week. The £20m investment from Johnson secured the future of 2,800 staff and 206 sites. The sale of £15m in new shares will be used to pay Johnson back £10m of his emergency loan. Yesterday (Wednesday, 31 October) former Druckers boss David Scott refuted suggestions he intended to make a takeover bid for Patisserie Holdings. Scott used to run Druckers Vienna Patisserie, a Birmingham-based group of cafes sold to Patisserie Valerie in 2007.