Ares-Backed Cooper’s Hawk Seeks Private Credit as It Plans IPO

Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurants, a restaurant chain and wine club backed by Ares Management Corp., plans to tap private credit to refinance debt ahead of a new effort to pursue an initial public offering, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. is reaching out to direct lenders to line up as much as $400 million of debt and growth capital, said the people, who were not authorized to speak publicly.

Cooper’s has prepared an S-1 registration statement for a potential IPO, they said. The chain had weighed an offering in 2022, Bloomberg ...