LONDON: Qatari-backed investor Constellation Hotels has bought the InterContinental London Park Lane hotel in a deal worth about £400m ($605m), a source close to the transaction told Reuters. Constellation paid £301.5m for InterContinental Hotel Group’s (IHG) 57-year lease on the 447-bedroom property close to Hyde Park, IHG said yesterday.
In a separate deal, Constellation paid about £100m for the freehold, which was owned by the Crown Estate, the property company that controls the assets of Queen Elizabeth II, the source said. The £301.5m price tag is 62 percent above the hotel’s book value.
Under the terms of the deal, it will manage the hotel for up to 60 years for an annual fee of about £4m. There were about six bidders for the IHG property, said George Nicholas at selling agent Jones Lang LaSalle.
Overseas investors have parked billions of pounds in London real estate. Qatar has been particularly active, investing in the Shard skyscraper, Harrods department store and athlete’s village in the Olympic Park in east London. Reuters
