On the record · Other
Le Pain Quotidien (US)
Belgian bakery-cafe chain majority-owned by Cobepa, a Belgian investment company; its US division filed Chapter 11 in May 2020 and was sold for $3 million to Aurify Brands, which reopened US locations under its own ownership.
Research depth
Outcomes researched
Reviewed operating findings or a classified operating outcome are available.
Record updated Sept. 4, 2026
Current ownership
Current owner not established
This record does not identify a current owner. That absence is a gap in the record, not a conclusion about ownership.
Ownership and transaction history
Chronology from recorded ownership periods, transactions and reviewed outcome events. Event order does not imply causation.
May 1, 2020
Operations ceased
Operating outcome
May 1, 2020
Revival or successor activity recorded
Operating outcome
What happened under and after ownership
Operating outcome
Ceased operations, then returned
The global parent filed for insolvency in Belgium in May 2020 while the US division separately filed Chapter 11 the same month, closing US locations amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Aurify Brands, a New York restaurant group, provided $522,000 in bridge financing and then acquired all US units for $3 million in May 2020, planning to reopen at least 35 locations and create 1,000 jobs.
US locations operate today under Aurify Brands, unrelated in ownership to Cobepa, which remains the majority owner of the separate global Le Pain Quotidien business outside the US.
- Founded
- 1990
- Sponsor at closure
- Cobepa
- Wikipedia · founded October 26, 1990 in Brussels; Cobepa raised its stake to 43% in December 2019; May 2020 Belgian insolvency and separate US Chapter 11 filing; Aurify Bra
- Cobepa (company primary) · self-describes as an independent, privately-held investment company managing ~€5.5 billion NAV; still lists Le Pain Quotidien as a current portfolio company
- Le Pain Quotidien US (company site) · live US site with an active locations page and a 2026 copyright date, indicating the Aurify-owned US business is still operating
What we do not know
These are gaps in the public record, not findings about the organization.
- No current public ownership assessment has been published.
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