KRC Capital is a private equity firm and investment company of Rattan Chadha and his family.
With decades of experience in the lifestyle industry. KRC Capital is a sophisticated and insightful global investor in hospitality, leisure, fashion, technology and real estate markets. Our network spans the globe, supported by a team of industry experts who use their local knowledge and worldwide reach to maximise all opportunities.
We believe in keeping things simple. We create transparency and alignment with all partners by leveraging our entrepreneurial expertise, institutional best practices, and hands-on management style.
KRC Capital's primary interest is in lifestyle companies who offer creative, one-of-a-kind brand experiences.
KRC Capital’s primary interest is in lifestyle companies who offer creative, one-of-a-kind brand experiences.
These include mid-sized, international organisations in leisure and hospitality markets. We are also interested in real estate with strong growth potential and a globally scalable, unique brand proposition.
We initiate investments in solid, well-managed companies with an annual turnover of €25 million to €250 million – including spin-offs and buy-outs not related to the core business. Our investment criteria include a seat on the board to ensure influence over strategic decisions and to safeguard sustainable profit and cash flow. Existing management teams must be capable, experienced and motivated. An exit strategy is discussed after a typical investment period of seven to ten years.
As an independent private equity firm, we adopt a longer-term investment horizon. Without external pressure to terminate investments early, we are free to assess market conditions and plan our exit at a time that will maximise profit.
KRC Capital's primary interest is in lifestyle companies who offer creative, one-of-a-kind brand experiences.
Rattan Chadha founded citizenM with an idea to disrupt the traditional hotel industry by creating a luxury hybrid hotel for today’s modern travellers – eliminating the frustrations these travellers shared. citizenM is a new breed of hotel designed around a new type of traveller – one who values a luxury hotel experience in central city locations, but at an affordable price. The first citizenM hotel opened at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport in 2008.
Today, citizenM has 40 hotels with over 7,000 rooms (including open hotels and hotels under development) across three continents. Currently, citizenM welcomes guests in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Paris, London, Glasgow, Geneva, Zurich, Copenhagen, New York, Boston, Washington DC, Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Taipei. Future locations include Rome, Miami, Menlo Park and Chicago.
While other hotel and hospitality companies had suffered serious consequences of the global pandemic of 2020, citizenM has continued its ambitious expansion by opening hotels in new cities (especially in the USA), and additional hotels in its most popular cities.
Royal Mougins is a first-class resort in the heart of the world’s most exclusive playground on the French Riviera, close to both Cannes and Nice. The resort comprises 75 hectares in Vallon d’Oeuf, hosting an 18-hole championship course, clubhouse, restaurant, spa, 29-suite hotel and 250 private homes placed among exquisite gardens. The course was designed in 1993 by the world-famous architect Robert von Hagge and considered to be the finest golfing experience on the Cote d’Azur. In 2008, Royal Mougins won the Five Star Diamond Award for Best Golf & Spa Hotel.
Since founding citizenM, Rattan Chadha knew that technology would help distinguish his hotels from all others. ‘Tech that makes life easy’ was one of the key components of the citizenM experience, for guests and everyone who manages the hotels behind the scenes. In 2014, citizenM became the first client of Ireckonu – then a fresh new Dutch company created to solve the challenges of the hospitality sector through technology and data. In a short time, Ireckonu gained such well-known clients as The Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group and Norwegian Cruise Lines. Today, it has nearly 80 hotel partners.
KRC Capital' s primary interest is in lifestyle companies who offer creative, one-of-a-kind brand experiences.
Rattan Chadha founded the world-famous Dutch fashion brand Mexx in 1986 by merging his two existing labels – Moustache (for men) and Emanuelle (for women). With design inspiration derived from ‘big city’ buzz and energy, Mexx quickly grew into an international favourite in apparel and accessories for men, women and children. When it was sold to Liz Claiborne in 2004, Mexx had a network of 1,200 stores in 56 countries in Europe, Asia, Canada and the Middle East with annual sales of over a billion euros.
With educated foresight, KRC Capital anticipated and recognised a long-needed shift in the serviced offices industry. As part of the real-estate strategy, KRC Capital became a founder / investor in Spaces. Moving away from commercial real estate, Spaces distinguished itself by offering a creative working environment where everything was taken care of, so companies could focus on their core business. Spaces offered flexible office space, meeting rooms, memberships, workstations, event space, and all related coworking products and services.
Vilebrequin was founded in 1971 in St Tropez with an invention of a fashion classic – the boxer short. The success was immediate and the brand soon gained a following among the most distinguished celebrities, cultivating casual elegance for men and their modern luxury lifestyle. At the time of the Vilebrequin sale in 2012, the brand had a network of 185 stores in over 50 countries, with significant brand presence in Europe and the United States.
Oberoi Hotels & Resorts is a well-known hospitality company, founded in India in the 1930s, and currently headquartered in Melbourne, Australia. It operates hotels and luxury cruises in Asia, Middle East and Africa. The investment in Oberoi exposed KRC Capital to the high-end of the leisure and hospitality segment, and the group’s clearly defined service offer matched KRC’s lifestyle objectives.
CoffeeCompany was founded in 1996. After the start-up phase, KRC Capital became a major shareholder and played a leading role in the brand’s expansion across the Netherlands, and its growth to 35 cafes in key cities like Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Delft, Utrecht and more. In 2011, when Sara Lee acquired CoffeeCompany, it was the Netherlands’ biggest coffee house chain.
Rattan Chadha is a passionate art collector. He began collecting in the 1980s by making incidental purchases.
His interest in art grew vastly around the year 2000, when he started visiting art fairs, galleries and museums with curator Liesbeth Willems. In 2019, he revealed part of his spectacular collection to a wide audience for the very first time, with a debut at Art Rotterdam (one of the longest running art fairs in the world). The exhibition – entitled ‘Trouble in Paradise’ – then moved to Kunsthal Rotterdam for a nearly four-month run. Rattan Chadha personally selected works of art that reflect on human inadequacies, respond to the state of society and inspire a sense of commitment to the world.
Divided into themes of Soul Searching, Delicious Confusion, and Forever Young, ‘Trouble in Paradise’ was designed to swing the viewer’s mood from melancholy to sex, drugs and rock’n’roll in a few steps.
Select pieces from the KRC Collection can be seen in citizenM living rooms around the world. Art is an essential part of citizenM hotel design – from the façades to the interiors – and directly related to the character of the company. Like at a museum or in a gallery, the featured artworks are meant to inspire all guests. But unlike a gallery where art is admired from afar, art at citizenM makes everyone feel at home.
KRC Capital`s team has the experience and knowledge to make the most of your investment.
Rattan is the founder and former CEO of lifestyle brand Mexx. After selling the company in 2004, he started his own...
Ward started his career at Kas Bank, where he gained broad experience at Treasury operations, working with its top ...
Kai holds a Dutch Law Masters title from the University of Leiden. Until 2008, Kai headed the commercial real estat...
Sehr is a highly skilled corporate strategy and finance professional with over 25 years of experience in investment...
Robin Chadha has worked for various fashion and lifestyle companies including Mexx and Tommy Hilfiger. He ventured ...
Demian has gained extensive experience with accounting and reporting of many multinationals in a diverse range of s...
Monique started her career in 1982 at Mexx International B.V. and held several positions within the company. After ...
Rattan is the founder and former CEO of lifestyle brand Mexx. After selling the company in 2004, he started his own private equity firm KRC Capital. Rattan is the founder and executive chairman of citizenM hotels, president and owner of the Royal Mougins Golf Resort, and controls investments in several other real-estate and fashion developments in India and America. As a philanthropist, Rattan has received a knighthood from the Queen of the Netherlands, as well as honours in the Netherlands and China for outstanding marketing and trading efforts.
Ward started his career at Kas Bank, where he gained broad experience at Treasury operations, working with its top institutional investor base. He has extensive experience and knowledge of the investment fund world. After finishing his MBA, Ward joined Amex group, the parent company of KRC Capital. Here, Ward is responsible for portfolio management of listed investments (equities, funds, etc.) as well as cash flow management. Furthermore, he looks after the funding, financing, and treasury services for several portfolio companies.
Kai holds a Dutch Law Masters title from the University of Leiden. Until 2008, Kai headed the commercial real estate finance and securitization desk of NIBC Bank. He then joined citizenM Hotels as Chief Financial Officer until 2020, when he moved on to join KRC Capital. He is responsible for the existing investment portfolio of KRC Capital, as well as assessment of potential new investments.
Sehr is a highly skilled corporate strategy and finance professional with over 25 years of experience in investment banking (M&A) and the private corporate sector. She received her MA in International Finance and Banking from Columbia University in New York, and thereafter worked at financial firms such as Lazard Brothers, Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, and Global Leisure Partners in the UK. In addition, she has held development and investment roles at large private operating companies such as citizenM. As a Senior Advisor at KRC Capital, Sehr is responsible for research into potential investment opportunities and the evaluation of portfolio strategy.
Robin Chadha has worked for various fashion and lifestyle companies including Mexx and Tommy Hilfiger. He ventured into hospitality by launching Amsterdam's first unique all-in-one restaurant, bar and club venue called Rain in 2005. In 2006, Robin became part of the founding team of citizenM as the Chief Marketing Officer – a role he’s held since the company’s inception.
Demian has gained extensive experience with accounting and reporting of many multinationals in a diverse range of sectors before joining KRC Capital in April 2019. Demian is responsible for supervising the quality of accounting, financial reporting and cash flow management of the entire group, as well as supporting and advising our investment companies.
Monique started her career in 1982 at Mexx International B.V. and held several positions within the company. After Mexx was sold to Liz Claiborne, she joined KRC Capital in June 2007.