Gates buys up shareof Cliveden

Shareholders of luxury hotel Cliveden have agreedto a £42.8m bid from a company that includes computer software billionaire Bill Gates of Microsoft.

Destination Europe is a subsidiary of a US investment consortium, owned by Lowe Enterprises, Cascade and LF Strategic Realty Investors. Gates's investment group, Cascade, owns 10% of the company, but a spokesman said that the billionaire had little to do with the decision to bid for the luxury hotel group.

"It's not like Bill Gates had stayed there and liked it so much he decided to buy the company," the spokesman said.

Lowe Enterprises is a US real estate corporation whose business includes the operation of independent hotels and resorts.

Shareholders were given until the end of July to vote for or against the bid. By last Friday (24 July), 77% of Cliveden shareholders had agreed to the takeover.