The former owner of Silversea Cruises is teaming-up with the founder of Abercrombie & Kent to take control of the luxury tour operator for an undisclosed figure.
Manfredi Lefebvre d’Ovidio, through his Monaco-based Heritage Group, will own 85 percent of Abercrombie & Kent, while Geoffrey Kent, the current chairman and CEO, will take a 15 percent stake.
The pair, who are friends and live in Monaco, are buying the business from struggling Chinese property developer Zhonghong Holdings, which was delisted from the Shenzhen Stock Exchange at the end of last year.
Zhonghong bought Abercrombie & Kent in 2016 from U.S.-based Fortress Investment Group.
Lefebvre sold a 66.6 percent stake in Silversea Cruises to Royal Caribbean for $1 billion and is using some of this to fund the Abercrombie & Kent acquisition, although this is a totally separate investment. He will become chairman of Abercrombie & Kent Holding.
Note: A&K is a separate and unique investment by Heritage group, led by Manfredi Lefebvre, and does not involve Silversea.
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