Restaurant group Corbin & King allowed to join forces with US investment fund in shareholder row
The owner of the Wolseley restaurant has edged closer to a £38m rescue package as it hopes to cut ties with its largest shareholder.
Thai hotel group Minor International was hoping to be granted an injunction to block a repayment, after the shareholder forced Corbin & King into administration last month over a loan.
Mr Justice Foxton ruled on Tuesday that Minor should not be granted the injunction, meaning that Corbin & King will be able to take up an offer to repay loans to Minor.
The group’s co-founder Jeremy King had teamed up with US investment fund Knighthead, which has offered to repay a £34m sum owed to Minor.
Marion Walsh-Hédouin, vice president of Minor Hotels, said the group had “serious concerns” before the pandemic about the restaurant group’s operational level.
The relationship between Minor and King “broke down irretrievably” when the co-founder filed a concocted petition in April 2021 seeking to force Minor International to sell its 74 per cent share.
The High Court judgement “resolves nothing” and would just replace one secured creditor with another “directly aligned with King,” Walsh-Hédouin said.
“No demonstrable improvement to the current dire situation of the business” had been offered, she added. The case showed the co-founder had accepted the group was “in need of strong financial support to secure its future.”
Marion Walsh-Hédouin said: “It is regrettable that we now find ourselves in a highly complex situation that serves no one’s best interests. However, Minor remains the majority shareholder of the business and will continue to work tirelessly to find a solution to best protect the interests of all stakeholders in Corbin & King.”
In a video message to customers earlier this year, King said the group’s restaurants were “busier and profitable as ever” but the business had been “under siege” from its largest shareholder.
“Despite all the difficulties over the last two years, we are in rude financial health,” he said.