UK: London’s iconic Ritz hotel was sold for less than 800 million pounds to a private Qatari investor, following the discovery of secretly recorded conversations of an initial £1.3 billion offer.
The five-star property in Mayfair was sold in March to an anonymous buyer for an undisclosed sum at the time.
Bloomberg has reported that the bid was later revealed at a court dispute between the two families of the Barclay brothers, the hotel’s former owners.
Frederick Barclay and his daughter Amanda are suing David Barclay’s son Alastair, along with three other relatives from David’s side of the family, for secretly recording conversations on the potential sale of the Ritz.
An initial offer of £1.3 billion was made by Saudi Arabia investment fund Sidra Capital.
Despite this, the hotel was sold by David’s side of the family to Abdulhadi Mana Al-Hajri, the brother-in-law of Qatar’s ruler, according to The Guardian.
Hefin Rees, Frederick and Amanda’s lawyer, said the sale “appears to be for half the market price… one is left to speculate why.”
