A corporate transaction stretching from the Greek island of Mykonos to London's Mayfair district is highlighting the increasingly international ambitions of the luxury hospitality business. OMO Mykonos, the company behind the upscale Nōema restaurant on Mykonos, said it will participate in a package of guarantees and security arrangements supporting an international financing facility of up to £325 million.
Under the agreement, the Greek company will provide guarantees for three U.K.-based entities—CH Acquisition Limited, MBH Group (UK) Limited and Troia (UK) Restaurants Limited—as part of a financing package comprising up to £275 million in term loans and an additional £50 million in revolving credit facilities.
The financing is being arranged by HSBC UK, Barclays and Santander UK. HSBC Bank is acting as agent, while HSBC Corporate Trustee Company will serve as security trustee.
The transaction also requires OMO Mykonos to join a series of creditor-ranking and security agreements. One of those agreements includes British entrepreneur Richard Caring, the founder of Nōema and the restaurateur often dubbed the "King of Mayfair" for his dominant position in London's high-end dining and private-club scene.
The financing follows a landmark deal announced roughly two months ago in which Mr. Caring agreed to sell a majority stake in his hospitality empire to Abu Dhabi-based investment group Diafa in a transaction valued at £1.4 billion. The portfolio includes some of London's most recognizable luxury dining and members' club brands, among them The Ivy, Sexy Fish, Harry's Bar, Annabel's and Scott's. The group generates annual revenue of about £303 million and operating profit approaching £58 million.
The arrival of a new investor is expected to accelerate the group's international expansion. For Nōema, the Mykonos restaurant that has become a fixture of the island's luxury tourism scene, the financing arrangement underscores its place within a hospitality empire that increasingly spans some of the world's most coveted destinations—from the Cyclades to Mayfair.
