Houlihan Lokey Advises Rhubarb Hospitality Collection

Houlihan Lokey is pleased to announce that Rhubarb Hospitality Collection (RHC), a portfolio company of LGT Private Debt, has been acquired by Oak View Group (OVG), a portfolio company of Silver Lake. The transaction closed on 31 May 2023. The financial terms are undisclosed.

Founded in 1996, Rhubarb Hospitality Collection is an international premium hospitality group specialising in luxury event catering, iconic restaurant dining, and venue hospitality. The company has built a reputation for excellence over more than 25 years, with iconic venues across London, New York, and Berlin. RHC is forecasted to deliver 9-figure revenues in 2023 and its team of 2,000 caters for well over 5 million people every year at venues including Peak in New York, the tremendously popular 10,000 square-foot stunning restaurant, bar, and event space on the 101st floor of 30 Hudson Yards as well as the Royal Albert Hall, Ascot Racecourse, Sky Garden, 22 Bishopsgate, immersive live entertainment experiences Mamma Mia! The Party, and Frameless, as well as venues in Berlin alongside the renowned Edge. The RHC events division continues to focus on bespoke solutions for a broad range of clients, from high-profile charity galas for 2,000 guests to small, intimate dinners in country venues. They are the preferred food partner for more than 70 premium venues and visitor attractions across London, including the Historic Royal Palaces, the Natural History Museum, Victoria & Albert Museum, and Old Billingsgate.

As part of the transaction, LGT Private Debt will sell their stake in Rhubarb Hospitality Collection to OVG. The purchase of the premium hospitality group aims to elevate the experience for fans at venues around the world, ensuring every fan gets a premium experience. In addition to RHC's own growth plan, the current management team, led by Chief Executive P.B. Jacobse, will help drive forward OVG’s plans to transform the food and beverage experience at arenas, stadiums, and live entertainment venues across the UK and around the world. RHC's category-leading expertise in premium hospitality will allow OVG to offer curated services across the entire food and beverage value chain to its venues and third-party clients.

Oak View Group (OVG) is a global sports and entertainment company founded by Tim Leiweke and Irving Azoff in 2015. OVG has been backed by Silver Lake, the global leader in technology investing, since its strategic investment in the business in 2018. OVG is focused on being a positive disruption to business as usual in the sports, live entertainment, and hospitality industries and currently has eight divisions across five global offices (Los Angeles, New York, London, Philadelphia, and Toronto). OVG oversees the operations of Climate Pledge Arena at Seattle Center in Washington; UBS Arena in Belmont Park, New York; Moody Center in Austin, Texas; Acrisure Arena in Greater Palm Springs, California; and the newly opened CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore, Maryland; as well as arena development projects for Co-op Live in Manchester, UK; Anhembi Arena in São Paulo, Brazil; FirstOntario Centre Arena in Hamilton, Ontario; a New Arena and entertainment district in Las Vegas, Nevada; and a New Arena in Cardiff, Wales.

LGT Capital Partners is a leading alternative investment specialist with over $85 billion in assets under management and more than 650 institutional clients in 44 countries. An international team of over 700 professionals is responsible for managing a wide range of investment programmes focusing on private markets, liquid alternatives, and multi-asset class solutions. Headquartered in Pfaeffikon, Switzerland, the firm has offices in San Francisco, New York, Dublin, London, Paris, The Hague, Vaduz, Frankfurt am Main, Luxembourg, Dubai, Beijing, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Sydney. LGT Private Debt, an affiliate of LGT Capital Partners, operates as a private debt competence centre focused on arranging and underwriting private debt investments for sponsored buyouts of middle-market companies on a pan-European basis. Set up in 2005, the team is composed of 23 investment professionals based in Paris, London, and Frankfurt, has completed over 118 transactions, and now has approximately EUR 2.6 billion of funds under management.

Silver Lake is a global technology investment firm with more than $95 billion in combined assets under management and committed capital and a team of professionals based in North America, Europe, and Asia. Silver Lake’s portfolio companies collectively generate more than $282 billion of revenue annually and employ approximately 713,000 people globally.

Houlihan Lokey acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Rhubarb Hospitality Collection. This deal represents another successful transaction for the firm in the hospitality industry after completing the acquisition of CH&CO by Equistone; the sale of Loungers to Lion Capital, and its subsequent IPO and the sale of Prezzo to TPG. With more than 150 transactions announced since January 2021, the firm reinforces its global leadership in the consumer space.