Cipriani, the operator of celebrity-packed restaurants and members’ clubs, is seeking to raise as much as €500 million ($526 million) for its global expansion, people with knowledge of the matter said.
(Bloomberg) — Cipriani, the operator of celebrity-packed restaurants and members’ clubs, is seeking to raise as much as €500 million ($526 million) for its global expansion, people with knowledge of the matter said.
The company’s new Cipriani Hospitality Fund will invest in iconic buildings in locations including Dubai, Singapore, Madrid, Geneva and Tokyo, according to an investor presentation seen by Bloomberg News. These will be developed into members’ clubs under the Casa Cipriani banner, and luxury residences.
The new fund is being created in partnership with Optimum Asset Management SA, as well as Credit des Alpes, a Geneva-based advisory boutique that’s worked with Cipriani on previous deals, one of the people said, asking not to be identified discussing confidential information.
It’s a bet that the world’s wealthy are willing to pay for more exclusive experiences than those available at typical restaurants and nightclubs. The annual fee for Casa Cipriani, a members’ club located at a Beaux-Arts ferry terminal in Lower Manhattan, New York, is $3,900, while its counterpart in Milan charges €3,000. A global membership offering access to both locations and future venues is available at $5,000 a year.
The Cipriani family remains the company’s majority shareholder.
The group’s New York flagship, which also houses an events space, a wellness zone and a small hotel, generated about $63 million in revenue last year, the investor presentation shows. Representatives for Cipriani, Credit des Alpes and Optimum either declined to comment or couldn’t immediately be reached.
Cipriani’s founder Giuseppe Cipriani opened his first bar — Harry’s Bar — in Venice, Italy in 1931. The venue became a celebrity hotspot, frequented by the likes of writer Ernest Hemingway and US baseball legend Joe DiMaggio. The Bellini cocktail was invented at Harry’s in the 1940s.
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