A Gail’s outlet in Kew, London | Photo credit: Bain Capital Credit

The owners of boutique bakery café chain Gail’s are reportedly preparing to hire advisers for a sale. According to a Sky News report, sources with knowledge of the matter said the sale would value the business ‘well over’ the £200m ($252m) it was purchased for three years ago. 
 

US investment firm Bain Capital Credit and food ecosystem fund EBITDA Investment took a controlling stake in Gail’s parent company, Bread Holdings, in September 2021, with Gail’s Chairman Luke Johnson retaining a 15% stake.  

Sky News reports that Bain Capital Credit and EBITDA Investments are seeking to hire advisers before the end of the year, although a formal sale process is unlikely to take place until 2025. 

Gail’s opened its first site in Hampstead, London, in 2005 and operated 70 stores across London and the home countries at the time of the 2021 deal. The boutique bakery café chain has since expanded to 130 UK outlets, including its first stores outside of south-east England in Manchester and plans to expand to the south-west with a store in Bristol in May 2024.