US fund Knighthead offers £38m to keep Wolseley restaurant-owner trading

An American investment fund has tabled a £38m offer to keep some of London’s most famous restaurants afloat, hours after it was forced into administration by its biggest shareholder and lender.

Sky News has learnt that Knighthead Capital Management notified administrators to Corbin & King – operator of The Wolseley on Piccadilly – on Wednesday that it is prepared to refinance all outstanding loans owed to Minor International.

Knighthead has retained the investment bank PJT Partners to advise it on its interest in the business, which is understood to date from the early part of the pandemic.

Minor announced on Tuesday that it had called in FRP Advisory as administrators to Corbin & King’s holding company, which also owns restaurants including The Delaunay and Colbert.

Its sites are continuing to trade, and a source close to the situation said Knighthead’s offer would allow the business to continue to pay suppliers, employees and landlords.

The London-based group was founded by Jeremy King and Chris Corbin, two of the capital’s most celebrated restaurateurs and briefly expanded into the hotel trade at a site in Mayfair.

Like many hospitality operators, it has seen trade badly hit by the COVID-19 crisis.

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Minor, which has been a shareholder in and lender to Corbin & King since 2017, cited its “inability to align with Mr King on a sustainable commercial strategy” for the decision to place the holding company into insolvency proceedings.

Dillip Rajakarier, group chief executive CEO of Minor International, said: “After all our offers 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.

“The loans have been in default since May 2020 and we are required to act in the best interest of the company’s stakeholders.

“Contrary to the picture that Mr King is trying to paint, the business is insolvent and is in strong need of further financial support.”

He added that Minor was “prepared to offer this support to secure the long-term future of Corbin & King’s employees and restaurants”.

It was unclear, however, why Minor had rejected previous refinancing offers from Knighthead, and whether FRP would seek to engage with the US-based fund.

Relations between Mr King and Minor have been fractious for some time, culminating in a move last week by the restaurant group to appoint an independent monitor in a bid to prevent administrators being appointed.

Minor said it had “made repeated proposals to recapitalise the company and continuously pushed the board for cash injection to support the sustainability of the business”.

Mr King said on Tuesday: “We have a legal dispute with one of our shareholders and we hope to sort that out soon.

“The good news is the restaurants are doing well and we are looking forward to a good 2022.”

The dispute with Minor is being played out against the backdrop of a separate legal case that involves Corbin & King suing Axa for refusing to pay out a claim for loss of business during COVID-19 lockdowns.

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