Corbin & King falls into administration after Minor clash

The London restaurant group Corbin & King has been placed into administration after a bitter dispute between its founders and Thai owner. Thai hotels group Minor Investments said FRP had been appointed after the Wolseley owner “was unable to meet its financial obligations”. Jeremy King and Chris Corbin sold a controlling 74% stake in the business to Minor four years ago in a deal valuing the business at £58m. Recently Minor had called in a £38m loan, which King said would have made the business insolvent. Meanwhile, Corbin & King had been holding talks over refinancing with US-based investment fund Knighthead Capital Management, in a bid to oust Minor. King had then sought a moratorium to prevent Minor calling in the loan. Minor said the business, “contrary to the picture Mr King was trying to paint, had become insolvent”. It added: “Prior to the appointment, an attempt to place an unauthorised moratorium filing was made. This was undertaken without board approval and was subsequently withdrawn.” King said: “There is absolutely no need to go into administration – we are trading extremely well and all suppliers, staff etc continue to be paid. It is a power play by Minor for the holding company, which we plan to thwart and buy it out of administration.” It has been argued, however, that Minor had offered cash to the company only in return for King relinquishing his board position and shareholding. Minor said it could not comment on King’s position but it had offered “a number of commercially attractive expansion proposals” that King had blocked. The appointment of administrators comes on the same day that Corbin & King was in court suing insurer AXA to cover losses it incurred during pandemic lockdowns. The restaurant operations will not be affected by the administration, and will continue to trade. The Times (£) The FT (£) The Guardian