The news surprised the world of sweet-tooths and pastry enthusiasts: Christophe Michalak has sold all of his stake to the company Kresk Développement, stepping away from the business he founded in 2013 with his wife Delphine McCarty. With around twenty shops spanning Paris to Japan and roughly 150 staff, the Michalak brand had become one of the most recognizable names in Parisian pastry in the capital.
It's not the first time Kresk has stepped into the fray. The group had already acquired 70% of Michalak Paris’s equity in 2023, in a first deal pitched as support for the brand’s development, notably in Asia. Kresk Développement is the family office of Didier Tabary (former majority shareholder of Laboratoires Filorga), whose assets exceed €1.5 billion, spread across cosmetics, private equity, real estate and the environment.
It’s fair to say that the Michalak pastries are moving into well-funded hands. The full sale, announced by the chef himself at the end of April 2026, marks the founder’s definitive departure.
In a spirit of mentorship and passing the baton, the creative direction has been entrusted to Damien Angelucci. A dedicated craftsman, renowned for his exacting standards and the quality of his creations. He has been working alongside the Chef for nine years and embodies the ideal transition to carry the brand’s DNA forward.
At 52, Christophe Michalak says he now wants to cook “without compromise” and speaks of a major break, with an unconventional project: cycling across France on an electric bike to meet young pastry chefs and local producers.
Good question, and the one that most interests regulars. For now, there are no signs of closures. The shops remain accessible on Rue du Faubourg Poissonnière in the 10th, Rue de la Verrerie in the Marais, Rue du Vieux-Colombier in Saint‑Germain-des‑Prés, and Printemps Haussmann.
The official Christophe Michalak site remains active, offering online ordering and refrigerated delivery across mainland France. What’s changing is the man behind the name. The Michalak brand has always been built on a distinctly personal identity: a bold, rock’n’roll style, unfussy recipes, and an energy that Parisians recognized with every new opening.
As Pierre Hermé did before him, who sold the majority of his company to L’Occitane and then to Butler Industries, Christophe Michalak chose a strong financial partner to accelerate his growth. The difference is that Pierre Hermé stayed at the helm. Michalak, meanwhile, is moving on to something else.
That’s where the question becomes interesting. A high-end pastry house can operate without its founder, provided that the teams and the recipes are properly passed on.
We think of Ladurée, Fauchon, and so many other Parisian brands that outlived their founders. But a shop built on the charisma of a single chef, with a proper name on the storefront, is a different story. The iconic creations remain in the catalog: the Kalin (the marshmallow bear that sparked a buzz again during the pop-up at Printemps Haussmann in early 2026), the revised Paris-Brest, the vanilla flan, the pastries from the Faubourg Poissonnière bakery. All these reference points have built a loyal, discerning Parisian clientele and don’t necessarily depend on Christophe Michalak himself to keep pleasing.
What Kresk Développement actually has in mind for the road ahead remains to be seen. When it first took a stake in 2023, the group announced plans to bolster its presence in France and abroad. Is that trajectory still on the table? The answer will likely emerge in the coming months, as openings unfold or the brand undergoes possible changes. In the meantime, for those looking to discover or rediscover the shops, the Paris addresses remain open. The patisserie on Rue du Vieux-Colombier in the 6th arrondissement, in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, remains a reliable stop for gourmets on the Left Bank.
