Kro Out, But Not Down

By now most readers are aware of the fracas that occurred at the Gongti branch of well-known pizza restaurant The Kro’s Nest on Saturday evening, when Olaf Kristoffer "The Kro" Bauer was allegedly assaulted by his business partner Yuan Jie. Today theBeijinger.com was able to speak to Kro about the incident and his plans for the future.

Trouble has been brewing for some time between Kro and Yuan – Kro claims he has been asking to see the company books for months after his suspicions were aroused by company losses, despite a constant flow of customers. Kro, who has known Yuan for nearly a decade, adds that despite these problems, “I never thought I’d be lied to and pushed out of the company.”

Yet when Kro went to the Gongti restaurant on Saturday afternoon, he claims employees informed him that they had been told he was no longer part of the company.

By Kro’s account, three personnel from his business partner’s firm then told him to leave the premises. When Kro refused they called the police. As no-one was able to produce a business license proving ownership the police left without resolving the situation.

Shortly after Yuan Jie returned with more police in tow, and according to Kro he was assaulted by his partner behind the restaurant bar at around 8pm. Both Kro and Yuan Jie were taken away by police, and Kro says Yuan was charged with assault.

When we asked Kro whether he could confirm that his partnership with Yuan was based on oral agreements, he replied, “I have been pushing for a legal agreement for two years.” Yuan, he claims, has delayed formalizing their relationship.

If this is true, it seems Dan Harris’ comments on his China Law Blog yesterday are spot on: “What happened here was a bunch of oral agreements by two people who never got around to legally formalizing their relationship. And then things changed (as they always do) and the partner with greater power took the business from the ‘partner’ with less power. In this case, the Chinese national is ending up with the business because the business is on his ‘turf.’”

At this point Kro says he will fight for a fair payout from Yuan Jie, despite advice from the US Embassy that he should walk away from the situation. He declined to name the sum he was seeking.

Kro confirmed that he is planning to stay in Beijing and set up a new business in the future.

Earlier today theBejinger.com visited the Gongti branch of The Kro’s Nest seeking comment on the dispute. Ms Wang, who claimed to be in charge of the restaurant, stated, “No one knows what's going on and we're not authorized to speak about the matter.”

Staff said that Yuan Jie was “unavailable.”