Irish property investor Quinlan Private buys Savoy Group for £750m

Irish property investment group Quinlan Private has bought the Savoy Group for £750m.

Quinlan, led by former Dublin tax inspector Derek Quinlan, agreed to buy the group of four of London's best-known hotels from US investors Blackstone and Colony Capital earlier this week.

The purchase of the group, which includes the Savoy, Claridge's, Berkeley and Connaught hotels and Simpson's-in-the-Strand restaurant, is expected to complete on or before 8 May.

Derek Quinlan, the company's chairman, said he was looking forward to working with the management of the Savoy Group and that the company's investment would "respect the iconic status of the group".

He added: "The acquisition provides Quinlan Private with a unique opportunity to extend its hotel portfolio and use its experience and resources to enhance the international standing of the hotels."

Quinlan, which owns 140 properties throughout Europe and North America - including the Four Seasons hotels in Milan, Budapest and Prague - is understood to have beaten competition from Saudi millionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, who has stakes in Canadian hotel companies Fairmont and Four Seasons.

Blackstone and Colony, which bought the Savoy Group in 1998 for £520m, put Claridge's hotel up for sale last October, but said they were "committed to the rest of the hotels" within the group and had no plans for further disposals at that time.

But last month industry insiders said a proposed £270m sale of Claridge's to Simon Halabi, owner of Piccadilly's In & Out Club, had fallen through and the whole of the group was poised for sale.