7th September 2024
Richard Caring is to sell his collection of Ivy restaurants, Caring, isclose to signing a deal with Si Advisers, a little-known London-based firm.
It is belived that a formal deal could be struck within weeks with expected to value at around the £1bn.
A sale is expected to see him offloading close to all of his stake in The Ivy Collection, which spans dozens of restaurants in prime locations across Britain.
Other shareholders, including a Qatari fund, are also expected to sell. The deal will not include Caring’s other restaurants, which include London’s Scott’s, Sexy Fish and J Sheekey, or clubs such as Annabel’s and Mark’s Club in Mayfair.
Si Advisers, founded in 2019, lists its two directors as Hamza Ben Abderahmen and Ameel Somani, who is described as “a private equity investor and keen supporter of the arts”.
The Ivy was founded at a site near Leicester Square in 1917 by Abel Giandolini and Mario Gallati, with the latter then going on to open Le Caprice – for decades one of the capital’s most popular restaurants among A-list celebrities before it was closed in 2020.
Caring took over Caprice Holdings in 2005 in a deal that included many of London’s most prominent restaurants. He has since embarked on an expansion of The Ivy brand, taking it to dozens of locations across London and the south of England. Branches of The Ivy have also opened in Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester and York, as well as cities in Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
Caring has also focused on expanding The Ivy Asia, a newer concept that numbers fewer than ten restaurants but which he aims to expand.
Troia Restaurants, which comprises The Ivy Collection, showed turnover profits of just under £3m on a turnover of of £303m, with and adjusted Ebitda of £54.8m.
In 2019, Caring sold a 25% stake in Caprice Holdings to Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, the former prime minister of Qatar, in a deal reportedly worth £200m. Caring has also been a shareholder in the company that owns the Soho House chain of private members’ clubs. His initial wealth was made in the clothing trade, and saw him become a long-term business associate of Sir Philip Green, the former Arcadia owner.