Gail’s ‘instructs advisors to pursue sale’

Gail’s has reportedly instructed investment bank Goldman Sachs to run an auction of the bakery chain in 2025.

Sky News reports that any resulting sale would be likely to see the partial or full exit of the business’s existing investors.

Gail’s, which launched in London’s Hampstead in 2005, has expanded rapidly in recent years and now comprises around 130 locations.

Bain Capital Credit and EBITDA Investments took a major stake in Gail’s in 2021, when it was valued at £200m.

At that time it comprised 73 sites so would now be expected to fetch substantially more.

In March, the investors denied earlier reports they had drawn up plans to hire advisers to pursue a sale.

When asked by The Caterer about the reports, the bakery chain declined to comment. 

Marta Pogroszewska, managing director at Gail’s, said last year the chain’s research had shown there were 300-500 locations where it could successfully open across the UK.

Gail’s was founded by Yael (Gail) Mejia as a bakery in the 1990s to supply chefs and restaurants. Co-founder Tom Molnar joined in 2003 and its first high-street site opened in Hampstead in 2005.

The business is also part-owned by hospitality entrepreneur Luke Johnson, who initially partnered with Molnar in 2011.

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