LLC, an affiliate of private equity firm KSL Capital Partners, has taken a significant minority stake in luxury resort developer Soneva.
Soneva operates a collection of luxury resorts including Soneva Fushi and Soneva Fushi in the Maldives and Soneva Kiri in Thailand.
The partnership will support Soneva short- and long-term development goals, and follows on from KSL’s investment in Baillie Lodges in late 2018.
“The more we have gotten to know Soneva, the more excited we are about the opportunities to help Soneva grow,” said Tina Yu, a principal at KSL.
“At KSL, we invest solely in travel and leisure, and we recognise the power of the Soneva brand platform in the expanding market for luxury experiential travel. Soneva has 25 years of experience operating at the very highest level and have been pioneers in creating rare authentic experiences for their guests.
“We look forward to a long and successful partnership with Soneva and its management team.”
As part of KSL’s investment, Sailing Capital, which invested in Soneva in 2014 and helped expand the portfolio in the Maldives, redeemed its investment in Soneva.
“We are immensely grateful to Sailing Capital for the faith it showed in Soneva and our management team. Sailing has been instrumental in our success to date,” said Sonu Shivdasani, who founded Soneva in 1995 with Eva Malmström Shivdasani.
“We are delighted to welcome KSL as our partner in Soneva. We have many exciting plans, and I cannot imagine better partners to help execute the next stage of Soneva’s growth.”