Grill’d founder and managing director Simon Crowe has bought the premium chocolate business Koko Black, which has been in administration since November 2015.

Acording to Fairfax Media, the administrator Deloitte wrote to the chain’s employees to let them know of the purchase and that a chief executive will be appointed.

About 300 staff are employed across the Melbourne-based production team and 14 retail outlets although it is expected that some stores will close.

In a letter to the staff Crowe praised the quality of the sweet treat brand:

“Its culture is founded on product quality, creativity and design, this does not need to change – rather it needs to be adequately supported by improved systems, processes, reporting and analytics.”

Koko Black will be owned separately to the Grill’d burger chain.