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NEW YORK — Abercrombie & Kent Group co-executive chairman Geoffrey Kent said during a press event here that the company “will probably go into the four-star business.”
“We may buy one,” he said. “Some competitors who started at five-star and added four-, or even three-star, are doing fantastically well. It can be a good business.”
Such an acquisition would not be branded as Abercrombie & Kent, he said.
Kent had hinted at possible acquisitions after he and Silversea executive chairman Manfredi Lefebvre d’Ovidio purchased A&K from troubled Chinese real estate company Zhonghong Holdings Group in February. At the time, he said the group would be expanding in the area of riverboats.
In August, Kent gave up his CEO title to former Silversea CEO Amerigo Perasso. After Perasso left Silversea in 2010, he had worked as an adviser in mergers and acquisitions.
Kent also revealed a bit more about how Lefebvre ended up as an investor. The two were longtime friends, he said, and he confided to Lefebvre that he was likely to turn to a private equity buyer “like KKR” to separate the company he founded from his Chinese owners.
“So, what about me?” Lefebvre replied. “What about me being your partner?”
Kent, who said the company is running “just shy” of $1 billion in annual turnover, asked, “You have enough money?”
“Let’s meet next week,” Lefebvre responded.
The sale to Silversea was announced just before their next appointment.
Source: travelweekly.com
