UAE Group Buys Iconic London Clubs
A UAE-backed group, DIAFA, agreed to buy Richard Caring’s hospitality portfolio — including The Ivy, Annabel’s, Scott’s and Sexy Fish — in a deal worth more than £1 billion, aiming to build a global luxury hospitality platform. This transaction bundles relationship-driven dining and private-club brands into a single, portable ecosystem for wealthy travellers and city-based members. (gulfnews.com)
An Abu Dhabi-backed buyer has taken control of Richard Caring’s London hospitality empire, putting The Ivy, Annabel’s and Scott’s under new ownership. (gulfnews.com) DIAFA, a luxury hospitality investment platform affiliated with International Holding Company, said on April 11 that it completed a majority investment in Caring’s portfolio in a ten-figure transaction. Richard Caring will remain executive chairman after the deal closes. (wam.ae) The assets in the deal include The Ivy Brasseries, Caprice Holdings restaurants such as Scott’s, Sexy Fish and Noema, and The Birley Clubs, including Annabel’s, George, Harry’s Bar and Mark’s Club. Bloomberg reported the buyer is a unit of Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s investment conglomerate. (wam.ae) (bloomberg.com) The sale folds some of Mayfair’s best-known restaurants and private clubs into one owner at a time when Gulf investors have been buying more trophy assets in Britain and Europe. DIAFA said it wants to use the brands as a base for international expansion rather than keep them as a London-only portfolio. (bloomberg.com) (wam.ae) That expansion plan is already specific. DIAFA and Caring said they expect Annabel’s to open in New York and said Scott’s, Sexy Fish and Noema will continue growing internationally, while The Ivy Brasseries keep adding sites in Britain in 2026 and explore the United States and other markets. (wam.ae) Price reports differ at the margin, but they point in the same direction: Gulf News described the transaction as worth more than £1 billion, while several trade outlets and The Sunday Times, cited by industry publications, put the valuation at about £1.4 billion. (gulfnews.com) (thecaterer.com) (thespiritsbusiness.com) The portfolio has been in play for months. The Caterer reported that sale rumors had circulated since 2024, when a narrower deal around The Ivy Collection appeared possible before the wider package of restaurants and clubs came together. (thecaterer.com) The underlying business is sizeable. The Caterer reported that the combined Troia Restaurants group generated £303 million in turnover and £58 million in earnings last year, figures that help explain why the buyer is treating the brands as a platform rather than a single-venue bet. (thecaterer.com) For London, the immediate change is ownership, not branding. Caring stays in place, the club and restaurant names stay intact, and the next test is whether a business built on Mayfair cachet can keep that appeal as DIAFA carries it into New York and other cities. (wam.ae)
