02.03.2015 - Abu Dhabi fund in $2.5bn bid for Claridge’s hotel owner
Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund has launched a $2.5 billion takeover bid for Maybourne Hotel Group, owner of luxury London hotels Claridge’s, the Berkeley and the Connaught. According to a report in the Sunday Times, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) has sent a letter declaring interest in Maybourne’s holding company Coroin. If the bid is successful, it would put an end to a four-year dispute over ownership of the five-star hotel portfolio. In 2011, the billionaire Barclay brothers made an attempt to wrestle control of Maybourne from Irish property investor Paddy McKillen by unsuccessfully attempting to acquire around 64 percent of Coroin through a complex investment strategy that involved buying the holding companies that owned the shares in the business rather than the shares themselves...............................................Full Article: Source
Print