The dining group behind some of London’s most acclaimed restaurants, including Gymkhana and Sabor, has raised funds to cover the costs of buying out a former business partner related to a controversial financier.
JKS Restaurants — which operates 21 sites across London including five Michelin-starred restaurants — will partly use the proceeds to cover the expense of buying out Ahsan Naqvi from the business earlier this year, according to three people familiar with the situation. Naqvi is the son of the founder of failed private equity firm Abraaj.
JKS also plans to expand its portfolio of restaurants and bars into more international markets, following the launch of a Riyadh outpost of Gymkhana in June and a restaurant in Dubai last month.
It has tapped a consortium of wealthy individuals, family offices and celebrities for individual investments of more than £250,000, said three people familiar with the matter. The funding round, which has raised in the region of £10mn, closed in recent weeks, two people added.
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