London Clubs International sells London casino

London Clubs International (LCL) has sold its Les Ambassadeurs casino in London's Mayfair to investment vehicle Twinwood for £115m.

LCL blamed the sale on a fall in business due to the London bombings in July 2005.

It said in a statement that although trading had recovered to some degree since the attacks last year it was still too low because many of its super-rich clientele had been put off.

Les Ambassadeurs' new owner is believed to be Indonesian tobacco tycoon Putera Sampoerna.

Sampoerna is developing a chain of luxury casinos after selling his cigarette business to Philip Morris for $5.2b (£3.01m) last year.

LCL said it would use the money from the deal to reduce debt and fund new casino openings in the UK.

By Mark Newton

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