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- 🤯 Privé Group: A Homegrown F&B Star’s Rise and Fall
🤯 Privé Group: A Homegrown F&B Star’s Rise and Fall
Privé was everywhere in Singapore — prime spots, packed weekends, media buzz. Then? Gone. Here's why Privé failed (and what you can do differently).
Admond Lee
September 28, 2025
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Today’s story is about how Privé Group went from a Singaporeans’ favourite F&B brand to closing down after 18 years. Let’s get to it! 🚀
Today at a Glance:
☠️ 1 Failed Startup → Privé Group
⚠️ 2 Mistakes → Expanded too aggressively into high-rent, high-risk locations
🧠 3 Lessons Learned → Prime locations don’t always pay
🔗 The Runway Insights → How to get cited in AI answers
💰 Southeast Asia Funding Radar → BeeX raises $7.4M (Series A) to launch its AI-powered autonomous underwater vehicles internationally
☠️ 1 Failed Startup: Privé Group
🚀 The Rise of Privé Group
🇸🇬 Founded in 2007 by Yuan Oeij in Singapore, The Privé Group operated a portfolio of restaurants, cafés, and bars / nightlife concepts across Singapore, often in prime or high-visibility locations.
🕺🏻 Founder’s Story
Back in 2006, Yuan took a leap from banking to food, opening a little bistro called Brown Sugar. It wasn’t a smash hit; it closed after 2 years, but he jokingly called it his “free MBA” in F&B.
That early setback only fuelled his dream.
In late 2007, he seized an unlikely opportunity on Singapore’s only privately-owned island, Keppel Bay, launching an upscale café-bar-restaurant named Privé (French for “private”).
The Problem — 🥂 In Singapore, people often prefer quality food + inviting environment in a non-pretentious way — for daily use, hanging out, meeting friends, semi-casual meals.
High-end restaurants / fine dining are great for special occasions, but can feel formal, pricey, or intimidating for everyday dining.
Casual cafés or casual eateries may offer comfort food, but often lack ambience, consistency, or a “premium feel” in nicer districts.
Also, people want “all-day dining” options (breakfast, lunch, dinner) in pleasant environments — but many restaurants are rigid (breakfast only, dinner only, etc.).
The Solution — 🏝️ Privé’ was launched to give diners a comfortable yet elevated place to dine throughout the day, with variety and ambience, including:
All-day dining with variety — from local classics (e.g. kaya toast, chicken rice variants) to Western comfort food (burgers, brunch plates) to plant-based options later on.
Inviting design & ambience — good interiors, pleasant views (e.g. waterfront at Keppel Bay), spaces that make people want to linger.
Flexibility and creativity — evolving the menu to respond to trends (e.g. introducing vegan / plant-based alternatives)
Strategic locations — placing cafés / restaurant outlets in malls, heritage districts, scenic areas — so they capture footfall and visibility.
🥃 In short, Privé was positioning itself as a lifestyle F&B brand, not just a café chain. You’d come for ambience, comfort, consistency, and variety.
 | 🧑🏻🍳 As Privé’s reputation grew, so did its traction. Yuan expanded ambitiously over the years. By the mid-2010s, Privé Group operated multiple concepts all over town. In 2011, riding high on success, they opened glitzy clubs Mink and Royal Room at a downtown hotel. |
🍻 They opened Privé at the historic CHIJMES complex in 2014, adding a lively bar menu to suit the nightlife crowd.
In 2015, they debuted an all-day Privé café at the Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM), and soon even launched a chic Chinese restaurant there called Empress – fulfilling Yuan’s dream to own a Chinese restaurant.
By early 2016, a Privé outlet had sprung up at Clarke Quay with live music to lure the party crowd after hours.
🏔️ At its peak, Privé:
Operated 9 restaurants and 3 nightlife / club venues under the group umbrella by 2018.
Their cafés and restaurants peppered prime places: malls, heritage areas, tourist zones, and district malls. The brand had strong visibility and recognition among Singaporeans.
The Keppel Bay flagship became well-known; its seaside views and relaxing ambience drew crowds.
The brand had enough clout that Yuan publicly mused about scaling up the signature “Singapore dishes” (like chicken rice) across outlets, even internationally.
The media and lifestyle press often featured Privé and Yuan as tastemaker brands — e.g. “Meet the Prive Group’s Yuan Oeij” is a feature in The Peak magazine.
Privé was strong, ambitious, and visible. It felt like the next stop might be regional dominance.
📉 The Fall of Privé Group
We (did) our best to ensure the continuity of our business and speak with interested parties – whether investors or partners – to explore different options.
However, given the extremely tough climate for the F&B industry, everyone has been taking a very cautious stance.
However, before Privé could expand regionally, something happened.
🙏🏻 For years, their cafés were packed — brunch by the bay, kopi by the gardens, even date nights in the city. Then, the cracks started showing: sky-high rents, brutal manpower costs, customers spending less, and a scandal that stained the brand’s name.
They tried closing outlets quietly, looking for investors, even selling the whole group — but no one bit.
📌 Here’s what happened to Privé Group:
A notice of repossession for Prive’s former premises at Wheelock Place
💃 The F&B Golden Era
Late 2007 – The Privé Group was founded by Yuan Oeij, opening its first Privé café-bar at Keppel Bay, Singapore’s only private island.
2009 – French restaurateur Jean-Luc Kha Vu Han joined Privé Group as Yuan’s right-hand man, later becoming CEO (he had stints at London’s Savoy and Quaglino’s).
2011 – ⚠️ The group expanded into nightlife, launching club lounge Mink and nightclub Royal Room at Pan Pacific Hotel – ventures that proved “ultra-challenging” and costly.
Oct 2013 – ⚠️ Opened WOLF, a nose-to-tail concept restaurant on Gemmill Lane serving offal dishes. The unorthodox idea failed to take off and Wolf closed soon after.
Late 2014 – 🎉 Privé CHIJMES opened in a downtown heritage complex, catering to a bar crowd with an expanded drinks menu.
Oct 2015 – 🎉 Debuted Privé ACM café at the Asian Civilisations Museum.
Around the same time, Yuan opened Empress at ACM, a modern Chinese restaurant, realising his dream of owning a Chinese eatery.
Jan 2016 – 🎉 Launched Privé Clarke Quay, a riverside outlet with live music to attract the nightlife crowd.
2017–2018 – 🐟 Further expansion: Opens seafood restaurant Bayswater Kitchen at Keppel Bay (2017) and neighbourhood cafés (e.g. Privé Tiong Bahru).
By 2018, Privé Group operated 9 restaurants and 3 clubs, and its Privé cafés were known for hearty local brunch fare and vegan options.
🥵 Tough F&B business landscape in Singapore
Nov 2019 – 🚨 Jean-Luc Kha Vu Han (Privé’s CEO) assaulted a 13-year-old boy in a lift while drunk, in a shocking incident that later resulted in criminal charges.
2020 – 🦠 The COVID-19 pandemic battered the entire F&B industry.
Privé Group, like others, endured dining restrictions; the aftermath saw consumer spending patterns shift.
2021 – The former CEO Jean-Luc Vu Han went on trial for the 2019 assault, garnering unwanted media attention for Privé Group.
2022 – 🙏🏻 Vu Han was convicted and sentenced to 2 weeks’ jail and a S$3,500 fine for the assault, formally ending his tenure with the company.
Late 2023 – 📉 Business declined sharply as “revenge spending” fades. Not just that, rising costs and a manpower crunch squeezed Privé’s margins.
Privé Group quietly explored investors or a sale to keep the business afloat (speaking to “interested parties” but no deal was struck).
Feb 2025 – 🤯 Privé’s outlet at 313@Somerset was repossessed by its landlord Lendlease for non-payment of rent, indicating serious financial strain.
Early 2025 – The group shut down Privé Jewel Changi Airport café and exited its Paragon outlet (Blue Bottle Coffee takes over the Paragon space by July).
Only 3 Privé cafés (Holland Village, Botanic Gardens, Wheelock) and the ACM outlets remained by mid-year.
Aug 31, 2025 – 😵 Privé Group ceased all operations and closed its last outlets.
A farewell message to customers and partners cited “external challenges and rising costs” leaving no viable path forward.
In a text to suppliers, the group announced it will appoint an independent financial advisor to handle outstanding matters, effectively signalling a winding.
Sept 1, 2025 – 🤝🏻 2 former Privé outlets at ACM (Empress and the Privé ACM café space) were taken over by Commonwealth Concepts to continue running without disruption.
Commonwealth retained some Privé staff to help operate these outlets.
Sept 2025 – Media reported that Privé Group had actually been on the market for over a year with “no takers in a tough climate”, and that the shutdown is one of many in a brutal year for F&B (over 3,000 eateries closed in 2024 alone).
The Privé Group’s website went offline, marking the end of an era.
In the end, the story of Privé Group is a bittersweet tale of ambition, success, and the harsh realities of running a F&B business.
💟🫡 Personally, I’ve huge respect for what Yuan has built. I’d been to Privé CHIJMES for my birthday celebration, and I genuinely enjoyed the vibe and food there. Loved the brand and the team behind it.
Sitting here talking about it, I feel a tinge of sadness. Privé wasn’t a tech startup or unicorn; it was a good old-fashioned F&B venture driven by passion. Its failed story is a cautionary reminder that running a restaurant empire is an expensive marathon, not a sprint.
🌎 One day, you’re expanding and making plans to conquer the world, and a few years later you’re penning goodbye notes on Instagram.
👋🏻 The rise and fall of Privé Group has given us — and many Singaporean food lovers — plenty of memories and lessons. It highlights the importance of sustainable growth, the perils of high overheads, and the unpredictable nature of consumer trends. Most of all, it shows that behind every café we enjoy, there’s a tough business fight going on.
🫡 If you’re running a F&B business, do you face similar challenges as Privé? How are you dealing with these challenges? Reply to this email and let me know.
I’d like to cover more F&B stories in Asia to hopefully help more F&B entrepreneurs out there.
Want to learn more about Privé Group’s downfall?
⚠️ 2 Mistakes
Yuan Oeij (founder & chairman of The Privé Group)
Mistake 1: Expanded too aggressively into high-rent, high-risk locations
Privé chased prime locations like Jewel Changi, Paragon, and 313@Somerset — all glamorous, but all insanely expensive to maintain.
🩸 Once foot traffic dipped or customer spending slowed, those outlets turned from cash cows into cash drains. By Feb 2025, their Somerset outlet was even repossessed for rental arrears.
Mistake 2: It was too late to find investors and buyers when the company was already bleeding
Privé went looking for buyers and investors only after the cracks were obvious — outlets closing, debts piling, brand value slipping.
🚢 But here’s the hard truth: no one wants to buy a sinking ship. By then, the numbers looked ugly and the story had lost its shine.
🧠 3 Lessons Learned
Lesson 1: Prime locations don’t always pay
On paper, having your café in Jewel Changi or Paragon looks like a jackpot. The photos are Instagrammable, tourists walk by, and your brand feels premium.
But here’s the problem: rent is fixed, demand is not. When COVID hit and post-pandemic “revenge spending” cooled down, those high-rent spots became financial sinkholes. By 2025, Privé’s Jewel and Paragon outlets were bleeding so badly that they had to shut. Their 313@Somerset outlet was even repossessed for unpaid rent.
Prestige doesn’t pay when the math doesn’t work.
🌮 Key Takeaways:
😎 Balance flagships with neighbourhood outlets
Keep one iconic “flagship” in a prime location (for branding, Instagram buzz, and media visibility).
But offset that with neighborhood or heartland outlets where rent is cheaper and customer traffic is more consistent.
Example: PS.Café built its brand in prime areas but expanded sustainably into smaller estates like East Coast, which helped them stabilise revenue.
🧠 Negotiate smarter leases
Don’t sign long, rigid leases in malls or luxury areas unless you’ve proven strong, stable demand.
Push for turnover rent agreements (a % of revenue), shorter lease terms, or clauses that allow early exits if traffic projections aren’t met.
Many F&B chains sink because they get locked into 5–7 year leases at unsustainable rents.
🚶🏻♂️ Study the “Anchor Effect” in Malls
In malls, foot traffic often depends on anchor tenants (big supermarkets, cinemas). If those anchors underperform, smaller F&B outlets suffer.
Before signing a lease, analyze mall anchors, surrounding tenants, and whether traffic matches your customer profile.
Lesson 2: Raise money or sell when times are good (not when you’re bleeding)
In Singapore, the F&B game is brutal:
Rents in prime malls (Orchard, Marina Bay Sands, Jewel) can chew up 20–30% of revenue.
Manpower is chronically short, and wages have gone up post-pandemic.
Margins are razor-thin — many outlets barely scrape by at 10% profit (if that).
The mistake Privé made was waiting until the walls were closing in — outlets shutting, rent unpaid, brand confidence slipping — before seriously courting investors or buyers.
At that point, the story had already turned sour, and no one wants to put money into a sinking ship.
🌮 Key Takeaways:
📈 Start courting investors during your growth years
Don’t wait until sales slow. If your brand is buzzing, your outlets are profitable, and you’re in expansion mode — that’s the time to pitch PE firms, family offices, or strategic buyers.
Investors want growth stories, not turnaround projects.
For example, when PS.Café was expanding in the 2010s and still on an upward growth curve, private equity firms started circling. They had leverage because their brand was hot, outlets were profitable, and investors could see upside.
🔔 Always be exit-ready
Keep clean financial records, strong margins, and standardised operations (e.g. central kitchen, franchisable systems).
This makes you more attractive if a buyer suddenly shows interest.
Think like Jumbo Seafood: they were IPO-ready years before they actually listed.
The result? They listed on SGX in 2015 while still at their peak, raising $43M — not when crab sales were slowing. That move gave them fuel to expand to China and Taiwan before headwinds hit.
🤝🏻 Build relationships early
Meet potential investors and acquirers before you need them.
Family offices, PE firms, and conglomerates (like Commonwealth Concepts) are always scouting.
Update them regularly so you’re on their radar when you’re at your peak.
Lesson 3: Guard your brand like your life depends on it
In Singapore, diners are spoilt for choice.
If someone doesn’t like your food, service, or hears bad press — they’ll just hop to the next café down the street. Your brand isn’t just your logo. It’s trust + perception. Once that’s cracked, rebuilding it is an uphill climb.
🙅🏻♂️ Privé learned this the hard way. Their former CEO’s assault scandal made headlines, and though it wasn’t directly about the food, it clashed with the group’s “family-friendly café” image. Customers don’t separate the brand from its people.
To the public, bad leadership = tainted brand.
🌮 Key Takeaways:
🙏🏻 Your leaders = your brand
In Singapore’s tight-knit market, founder/CEO behavior reflects directly on the business.
Train leadership, set standards, and know that one viral video can wipe years of goodwill.
🏃🏻♂️ Crisis management is part of branding
Have a playbook ready for PR crises.
Apologies, transparency, and quick action can save a brand from long-term damage.
Pretending nothing happened (as many F&Bs do) usually backfires in Singapore’s media-savvy market.
🔗 The Runway Insights
💰 Southeast Asia Funding Radar
BeeX raises $7.4M (Series A) to launch its AI-powered autonomous underwater vehicles internationally (Link)
Loom Carbon raises $300k from Singapore Fashion Council (SFC) to fight against fashion waste (Link)
Terra Oleo raises $3.1M to reinvest fats and oils with its microbial technology (Link)
ATEC, a Cambodia’s clean cooking technology company, raises $15.5M to roll out smarter and cleaner cookstoves (Link)
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Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed today's issue. More than that, I hope you’ve learned some actionable tips to build and grow your business.
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See you again next week.
- Admond
Disclaimer: The Runway Ventures content is for informational purposes only. Unless otherwise stated, any opinions expressed above belong solely to the author.
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