:
UK: London-based boutique hotel group Firmdale has sold a 20 per cent stake in the company to Swedish pharmaceutical entrepreneur Lennart Perlhagen in a deal reportedly worth £300 million.
The transaction marks the first time that the group has brought in an external investor since its founding in 1985 by husband-and-wife duo Tim and Kit Kemp.
Firmdale operates eight hotels in London, including Ham Yard Hotel, The Soho Hotel, and Charlotte Street Hotel, as well as three in New York including the recent opening of Warren Street Hotel in early 2024.
Perlhagen is the founder of Novocure and a former executive at AstraZeneca and Farmitalia SpA. He built Cross Pharma into a business valued at more than £3 billion.
His connection to Firmdale reportedly comes through his relative Mona Perlhagen, head of Chelsea Textiles, which supplies fabrics for the group’s hotels.
For the year ending 31 January 2024, Firmdale Holdings reported a record £198.2 million in revenue, generating £17.8 million in operating profit.
Firmdale has confirmed plans for further expansion in London. In 2022, the group acquired a long leasehold interest in three adjacent buildings in Bloomsbury, with plans to convert them into a hotel under its Town House collection.
