King & Spalding and Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) have advised on a $500m financing facility to help fund UK luxury travel company Abercrombie & Kent Travel Group’s (A&K’s) global expansion.  

King & Spalding represented A&K while NRF advised long-standing client Citi, which underwrote the facility as mandated lead arranger, coordinator and bookrunner, agent and security trustee.

The facility will assist A&K with the ongoing expansion of its established and market-leading luxury travel business, as well as its newer luxury cruise business Crystal, with the existing Crystal vessels serving as collateral for the facilities. A&K, advised by Paul Hastings, purchased Crystal Serenity and Crystal Symphony along with the Crystal brand in 2022.

Crystal is set to expand further following the announcement in June that A&K has signed an agreement with Italian luxury shipbuilder Fincantieri to build two high-end passenger cruise vessels. 

A&K’s executive chairman, Manfredi Lefebvre d’Ovidio, said the financing “cements another milestone in the over 30-year relationship between my family and Citi”. 

“It is a partnership that has helped build businesses and generate growth all around the world,” he added. “I am excited about this next chapter together and the possibilities it unlocks for Abercrombie & Kent.”

King & Spalding’s transatlantic team was led by finance and restructuring partners Amin Doulai in London and Marisa Sotomayor in New York and included senior associates David Phillips in London and George Komnenos in New York. London-based partner Daniel Friel and associate Michael Langan provided tax advice.

The NRF team was led by co-head of asset finance Yianni Cheilas, who is based in Athens and London, and London-based counsel Matthew Bambury. 

Cheilas said: “The leisure and tourism industry as a whole, and particularly the cruise industry, is currently experiencing a post-Covid boom and it is encouraging to see new entrants to the cruise market such as A&K, who have a substantial pedigree and track record in other aspects of leisure and tourism. 

“We expect this level of activity to continue and transactions like this evidence our ability to combine our global general banking expertise with our sector-specific, market-leading transport, tourism and hospitality practices across the network.”

The NRF team, which was spread across its London and Athens offices, also included counsel Niki Alexandrou, senior associates Nicholas Papadopoulos and Eliana Miliou, associates Rebecca Daniels and Alexander Clarke, and trainees Lucrezia Cavuto and Merna Daabis. London-based acquisition finance partner Neha Khosla, counsel James Tong and associate Jack Zheng assisted on related finance aspects, and partner Kirstin Russell and senior associate Jessica Sorah separately advised Citi as security trustee.

A pioneer in the world of luxury adventure travel, Abercrombie & Kent offered its first African safaris in 1962. With 55 offices in more than 30 countries, the company travels to more than 100 countries on all seven continents.

Other legal advisers to A&K have included Charles Russell Speechlys, whose corporate partner Andrew Clarke advised founder Geoffrey Kent in 2019 on a deal for Heritage group, which is chaired by Lefebvre d’Ovidio, to acquire 85% of A&C with Kent owning a 15% stake.

In June, Skadden and Cleary Gottlieb advised on a strategic investment by LVMH in Accor’s Orient Express brand to help accelerate its growth.