Ivy owner Richard Caring steps away from battle for Corbin & King
Ivy owner Richard Caring has signalled he has given up the chase for beleaguered restaurant group Corbin & King.
The group behind celebrity haunts including The Wolseley entered administration last month, amid icy relations between Corbin & King’s founders and its majority shareholder.
Restauranter Caring has said “at this moment, I am not intending to pursue” a deal, the Sunday Times reported.
Caring had been due to meet Minor International, Corbin & King’s Thai majority shareholder, last week.
“They’re the guys that actually started this whole image and impression of hospitality in London,” Caring said of Corbin & King’s founders.
It comes as the restaurant group’s founder Jeremy King has accused Minor International of attempting “to seize control of the company” via an administration process.
King is seeking to buy back the firm with backing from US investment fund Knighthead Capital, which has proposed repaying £38m of debt owed to Minor.
Minor has reportedly received between 35 and 40 expressions of interest in the company, which is continuing to trade as normal.