UK: Majority shareholder Minor Hotels has placed the holding company of restaurateurs Corbin & King into administration following reports of defaulted loans.
Thai-based operator Minor Hotels acquired a majority stake in the restaurant group in 2017. Corbin & King operate a number of high-end restaurants including The Wolseley and The Delaunay, and opened The Beaumont hotel in 2014. It has since been sold to the Barclay brothers.
Yesterday (Tuesday 25 February), Minor Hotels announced it had appointed administrators to Corbin & King Limited after the group had been “unable to meet its financial obligations”. Geoff Rowley and Ian Corfield at FRP are overseeing the process.
Minor claims that Corbin & King had defaulted on its loan obligations since May 2020. An outstanding £35 million loan has been referenced, which was made to the group as a result of Covid-19 disruptions.
According to Minor, repeated proposals have been made to recapitalise the company and support the business. These proposals had however been declined.
Dillip Rajakarier, CEO of Minor Hotels International, said: “After all our efforts to put the company on a strong financial standing have been rejected by Mr King, we have had no choice but to take the responsible step and put Corbin & King Limited into administration.”
Jeremy King and Chris Corbin, co-founders of Corbin & King, plan to buy back the holding company out of administration. King argued that “we are trading extremely well and all suppliers, staff etc continue to be paid.”
News of the administration comes as Corbin & King reportedly hold talks over financing with Knighthead Capital Management, according to Sky News.
The appointment of administrators does not affect the operations of the restaurants within the group.
