Jeremy King at the Wolseley, Piccadilly, central London
(Picture: Daniel Hambury/Stella Pictures Ltd)The man behind some of London’s landmark restaurants, including the Wolseley, is set to be pushed out of the business he created after losing out in a late-night auction.
Jeremy King, who founded Corbin & King with Chris Corbin, was outbid by shareholders Minor International who said they will focus on “growing the business... without the involvement of Messrs Corbin and King”.
The Thai-based firm reportedly paid £60million for the group, which also includes restaurants such as the Delaunay, Brasserie Zedel and Colbert.
In a statement, the company said it had “the utmost respect” for what the pair have achieved in the London restaurant business and their continued involvement “was a critical factor in deciding to make our original investment.
However, as time passed it became clear Mr King had significantly different views on the appropriate strategy for the business.”
The conclusion of the auction for Corbin & King comes months after Minor pushed the business into administration, following a row with Mr King over its future.
Writing to customers, he said his attempt to take back control had “regrettably” failed. He said he had been willing to take on company debts, “with a view to fully acquiring the company.
“We left the appointed administrator in place in order to resolve our dispute with Minor by having a sales process to establish the new owners. The final stage of that process — an auction — took place in the early hours of today.
“We took part in the auction to try and buy the business and assets of Corbin & King that we didn’t already own, including of course all the restaurants.
“Regrettably, that attempt failed and Minor Hotel Group was the successful bidder, buying the entire business.
“As a result, I no longer have any equity interest in the business, although for the time being I remain an employee.”
It is the end of what has been an increasingly bitter legal row, with Minor trying to remove King from the company after they fell out over its plans to expand the business.
Advisory firm FRP, which had been managing the administration process, said the company had been rescued “as a going concern”.
