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Caring to sell The Ivy Collection for £1bn

HSBC has begun distributing marketing materials to potential buyers, with Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) expected to make a bid. In December 2023, the fund bought a 49% stake in Sir Rocco Forte's hotels group, valuing the company at £1.2bn.

Caring, known as the ‘King of Mayfair’, co-owns the Ivy group in a 50/50 partnership with former Qatari prime minister Sheikh Hamad Bin-Jassim Bin-Jaber Al Thani.

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Since the launch of the first spin-off in 2014, Covent Garden’s The Ivy Market Grill, Caring has overseen the expansion of The Ivy brand across 50 sites in the UK, including eight Ivy Asias as well as the original in West Street.

Caring’s Troia (UK) Restaurants, which owns and operates the Ivy brand, reported “strong growth” in the year ending 1 January 2023, with profit before tax growing to £29m from £20.4m in 2022. 

Meanwhile, Caring’s Caprice Holdings saw turnover increase by 71% in 2022, however, restaurants operated under this brand, including Scott's, Sexy Fish and J Sheekey, plus the Mayfair nightclub Annabel's, will not be included in the sale.

The original restaurant was founded in 1917 by Abel Giandolini as an unlicensed Italian café in a building on the same site. Located opposite the Ambassadors and St Martin's theatres, the venue quickly became synonymous with fame and fortune in the capital. 

Harpers has contacted Caprice Holdings for comment.

• Caprice Holdings
• The Ivy
• The Ivy Collection
• Richard Caring
• Abel Giandolini