Wed 2nd Nov 2016 - Administrator – Sodexo paid just £1.4m to acquire bulk of Peyton & Byrne Administrator – Sodexo paid just £1.4m to acquire bulk of Peyton & Byrne: A report by the administrator of contract catering company and cafe operator Peyton & Byrne, owned by Great British Menu judge Oliver Peyton and his sister Siobhan Peyton, states Sodexo paid £1.4m plus VAT to buy five catering contracts held by the company after it was placed in administration last month. Peyton & Byrne Bakeries, a newly incorporated company wholly owned by Siobhan Peyton, bought the company’s five bakery cafes and central production unit for £120,000, with £50,000 of this paid and the balance due on 17 November. A Companies House report by administrator Deloitte states Business Growth Fund is the largest unsecured creditor of the company and is owed circa £4.15m – there are 185 unsecured creditors in total with estimated claims, including Business Growth Fund, totaling £6.95m. The administrator warned that “we do not anticipate that there will be sufficient assets realisations to enable distribution to be made to unsecured creditors” apart from a sum of circa £300,000. In March this year Business Growth Fund invested a further £800,000 in the business, which was “subject to a redemption premium of 100%” that would bring its total indebtedness under its investment to £1.6m – this is in addition to the previously mentioned unsecured sum of £4.15m. The administrator reported that the company had been notified earlier in 2016 that two major contracts, the British Library and Kew Gardens, would not be renewed upon expiration of the current contracts. These contracts were due to end in September and October 2016 respectively. A working capital unwind associated with the loss of these contracts was expected to result in a period of cash outflows, with the company’s forecast showing a funding requirement above existing facilities by the end of October. The board had sought to manage the forecast funding requirement through addressing the overhead base and accelerate the ongoing sale process. The board appointed GCA Altium to commence a sale process in the spring, marketing the business initially as a share sale rather than a business and asset transaction. However, the assets were eventually sold last month in a pre-pack administration to “achieve better results for the company’s creditors as a whole rather than a liquidation”.