In its latest interim report on the status of Patisserie Holdings before handing off its job of administrator to liquidators from FRP Advisory, KPMG said: “We expect that the liquidators will be assessing and, if appropriate, pursuing potential claims against third parties in respect of the apparent accounting misstatements that were uncovered in October 2018.”
Previously, KPMG said in March ‘there may be sufficient grounds to establish potential legal claims against a number of parties’ which ‘may include Grant Thornton’.
However, in its latest update, KPMG said it does ‘not expect to realise any value from the company’s investments in subsidiaries’.
Preferential claims have been estimated at £835,000 but it would appear that there are not enough assets ‘to make a distribution to preferential creditors’. KPMG also said that the £2.45m pumped into the business by Luke Johnson to pay wages and administration fees had not been repaid.
KPMG is standing down as administrator of Patisserie Holdings over a conflict of interest – Grant Thornton audits KPMG. Grant Thornton is under investigation by the Financial Reporting Council over Patisserie Holdings while the Serious Fraud Office also has an ongoing investigation into the collapse of the company.
