The CEO of luxury travel company Abercrombie & Kent, Geoffrey JW Kent, announced the creation of a partnership with Manfredi Lefebvre d'Ovidio, President of Silversea Cruises, to acquire 100% of the Abercrombie & Kent group of companies from Zhonghong, a Chinese corporation that had acquired 90.5% of the company in October 2017 for $412 million.
Last year, Lefebvre sold 66% of Silversea Cruises to Royal Caribbean International for $1 billion plus a deferred stock payment tied to performance targets. During the recent International Cruise Summit, he was interviewed by Virginia López Valiente, CEO of Cruisesnews, and did not deny his interest in investing in Avoris, the travel division of the Barceló Group, but this possibility now seems less likely.
Heritage Group, whose chairman is Lefebvre, will hold an 85% stake, and Geoffrey Kent, who founded Abercrombie & Kent in 1962, will hold 15%. Kent will continue as chairman and chief executive officer, while Lefebvre will become chairman of Abercrombie & Kent Holding. The deal is expected to close by the end of this year, subject to closing conditions and regulatory approvals. It is an investment solely by Heritage Group and does not involve Silversea.
