Sky News reports that Gail’s shareholders have instructed Goldman Sachs to run an auction of the business next year.
Banking sources said the appointment had taken place in recent days, and was likely to lead to a partial or full exit for the company’s existing backers.
The precise timing of an auction was unclear, as was the likely field of bidders.
In September 2021, Gail’s parent company, Bread Holdings, secured new investment from Bain Capital Credit and McWin in a transaction valued at £200m.
Hospitality investor Luke Johnson, who engineered the sale, remained as an investor through his private equity arm, Risk Capital Partners, and as a board member.
Analysts told Sky News the company could now be worth as much as £500m now, having expanded rapidly since the last deal.
At the time of the last deal, Gail’s had just over 70 bakeries trading across the country, with that figure now standing at more than 130.
Goldman Sachs declined to comment.
