Claridge's £270m sale deal hits snag

The purchase of London's Claridge's hotel is understood to have fallen through, and the whole Savoy Group is now expected to be sold over the next four to five weeks.

Simon Halabi, owner of the In & Out Club in Piccadilly, was said to be close to buying the 197-bedroom hotel for £270m, but it's now rumoured that the whole group is about to be bought by another party.

The group, which includes the Savoy, Berkeley and Connaught hotels, and the Simpson's-in-the-Strand restaurant, is expected to sell for about £800m.

Kingdom Holdings, the investment vehicle of Saudi billionaire Prince al Waleed bin Talal, who has a stake in both Four Seasons and Fairmont, is thought to be interested in several of the hotels in the group, as is a British investor. Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels, which is handling the sale along with Deutsche Bank, declined to comment.

Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 1 - 7 April 2004