NOHM Hospitality Takes Majority Stake in Baoli, Weighs New Global Sites
Downtown Ventures' F&B arm now controls the Cannes-born dining and nightlife brand, with St. Tropez, Bodrum and Courchevel under review.
Karim El-Sayed Karim El-Sayed covers company news, policy and regulation across the UAE and wider MENA for Anecdoted, with a focus on how new rules and licences reshape how startups operate. karim@anecdoted.com
NOHM Hospitality has acquired a controlling stake in Baoli, the restaurant and nightlife name that began on the French Riviera. The Dubai group is the food and beverage arm of Downtown Ventures, an investment firm based in the Dubai International Financial Centre. The transaction was completed in Paris on October 12, 2026, and the price was not made public.
Brandon Joseph, a senior vice president for strategy and business development at Downtown Ventures, led the talks and put the structure of the deal together.
The two sides are not new to each other. NOHM took a franchise licence for Baoli in 2022 in order to bring the brand to the UAE, and Baoli Dubai opened at J1 Beach in November 2024. With the acquisition, the group moves from running the brand under licence in one market to owning it outright.
Dubai as the new flagship
"The tremendous success of Baoli Dubai has shown us the strength and brand recall of Baoli," said Sanjeev Nanda, managing director of Downtown Ventures. "Since the opening of the first venue in Cannes in 1999, Baoli has been one of the creators of the festive dining concept and has developed a tremendous global clientele. Dubai, however, has now become the new flagship, and we believe this concept has great potential for global expansion. It's only fair now that the brand rests in the UAE."
Baoli's first location opened in Cannes in 1999. Nanda describes the brand as one of the originators of the festive dining format, and credits it with drawing an international clientele over the years since.
Expansion targets
NOHM is looking at St. Tropez, Bodrum and Courchevel as possible sites for new venues, part of a wider plan to sell the brand in more countries. The company has not said how many locations it intends to open, or on what timetable.
Christophe Caucino, who founded Baoli, framed the sale as a handover rather than an exit.
"This is a very proud moment," Caucino said. "What began on the Riviera has become a name people recognise worldwide, and NOHM has shown in Dubai how far that magic can travel. Together, we will take Baoli to new cities and new audiences without ever losing the soul that made Cannes and Miami fall in love with it."
Behind the buyer
Downtown Ventures spans hospitality, real estate, technology and pharmaceuticals, and its track record runs past four decades. Nanda assumed leadership of his family's hotel business in 2005, and his hospitality work has included Taj Dubai, Billionaire Mansion and Toto's in London.
For NOHM, the deal puts ownership of a Cannes-born brand in Emirati hands, with the Dubai venue as its centre of gravity rather than a franchise outpost. The group has said it intends to develop the brand across additional international markets, extending a relationship that started four years ago with a licence and now ends with control.
