Arrow buys Viriato in Gander

The British fund Arrow has purchased the furniture manufacturer Viriato in Gandra and has saved 113 jobs in the process.

The fund has placed a new CEO, Jorge Neto Morgado, to manage the Viriato Hotel Concept, a company that specialises in producing furniture and furnishings for hotels.
The Viriato Hotel Concept was taken over by its six bank creditors headed by Novo Banco who removed the former owners from its management, introduced a restructuring plan and put its finances in order after its turnover had plummeted to €13 million with a debt of €23 million.
With the restructuring by the banking syndicate, the company closed 2016 with sales of €17 million of which 95% was from exports with big brand clients such as Marriott, Sheraton, Méridien, Intercontinental, Hilton, Club Med and Mandarin.
But in recent years the company’s fortunes began to go downhill with falls in revenues, cash-flow problems and debt pressures weighing heavily on the company that employs over 100 staff.
On March 30, 2023, six years after its main creditor (Novo Banco) had been purchased by the US fund Lone Star, the UK fund Arrow Global, which recently bought the Algarve resort Vilamoura World, has now acquired the Viriato Hotel Concept which through its fund Arrow Global ACO II has agreed a significant rescue financing package for Viriato SGPS which is held by the Ferreira da Rocha company according to Restart Capital in a communiqué.
The Arrow Global subsidiary Restart Capital, without specifying investment amounts – Restart Capital specialises in repurposing and restructuring distressed company assets — announced that the company would have a new CEO, Jorge Neto Morgado, “an executive with a wide experience in management in various sectors, and in different companies with an international presence. (financial consulting and strategy, hospital management, retail, food, and energy).
It is just one investment in Portugal from Arrow Global which currently holds Restart Capital, Detail Hotels & Resorts, Whitestar, Norfin and Hefesto. The funds that it manages have stakes in Vilamoura World and recently acquired Dom Pedro Hotels.
“This investment by Arrow Fund is another step in the consolidation of our activities in Portugal”, says João Bugalho, CEO of Arrow Global Portugal.