A battle over the future of some of London’s top restaurants has resumed hostilities after its Thai-based owner prepared legal proceedings against the fund which has just taken over the group’s debt.
Sky News has learnt that Minor International has hired Linklaters, the magic circle law firm, to sue Knighthead Capital Management for allegedly inducing Corbin & King’s co-founder, Jeremy King, to breach his shareholder agreement.
Minor is also understood to be working with Mishcon de Reya, another law firm, on a separate claim against Mr King personally.
The latest legal salvoes from Minor come weeks after it failed to prevent Knighthead repaying about £38m in debt owed to it by C&K subsidiaries.
C&K is the group, established by Mr King and co-founder Chris Corbin, behind famous central London restaurants including The Wolseley, The Delaunay and Colbert.
Minor forced C&K’s holding company into administration in January, accusing Mr King of mismanaging the business and of refusing to place the business on a more sustainable financial footing.
The accusations were rejected by Mr King, a prominent figure in London’s restaurant scene for the last two decades, who has held long-standing talks with Knighthead about taking control of the company.
City sources said that FRP Advisory, which was appointed to handle the administration, had set a deadline of last Friday for offers.
Both Knighthead and Minor are understood to have tabled proposals, while Richard Caring, the well-known London restaurateur whose brands include The Ivy, is said to have reconsidered bidding despite being reported to have withdrawn from the process.
Mr King recently won another important London court battle when a judge ruled that Axa, the French insurance giant, was told to pay C&K several million pounds for a business interruption claim brought as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Minor and Mr King both declined to comment.