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| Version 7 | Version 8 |
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| Little Chef fails to find buyer | Little Chef fails to find buyer |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| Roadside restaurant chain Little Chef has called in the administrators after failing to find a buyer or refinance the business. | Roadside restaurant chain Little Chef has called in the administrators after failing to find a buyer or refinance the business. |
| PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) was called in to wind up the business after it suffered "significant losses". | |
| PwC announced it had sold 196 of the group's 235 restaurant sites to private equity company RCapital, saving "the majority" of its 4,000 jobs. | PwC announced it had sold 196 of the group's 235 restaurant sites to private equity company RCapital, saving "the majority" of its 4,000 jobs. |
| PwC added it was reviewing the future of the rest of the business. | PwC added it was reviewing the future of the rest of the business. |
| PwC joint administrator Ian Green said that while it was "disappointing" that efforts to save the group failed he was "delighted" recent negotiations would see almost 200 Little Chef restaurants continue trading. | |
| Big losses | |
| On Tuesday it was reported that the firm, said to be losing up to £3m a year, was involved in takeover talks. | |
| The business, which employs 4,000 people, was bought last year for £52m by its chief executive Simon Heath and the People's Restaurant Group, headed by catering magnate Lawrence Wosskow. | |
| Since its foundation in 1958, the firm has had a rather convoluted history that has involved it being passed between a number of different parent companies, including Granada and Compass. | |
| More than 20 million people visit Little Chef roadside outlets each year. |