Barclay brothers mull £800m sale of The Ritz Hotel
David and Frederick Barclay, the billionaire brothers that own The Ritz, are reportedly mulling an £800m sale of the five-star Mayfair hotel.
The twin brothers, who also own The Telegraph newspaper and Spectator magazine, bought the Grade-II listed building for £75m in 1995.
Read more: Profits plunge at Barclay brothers’ Ritz hotel
Richard Faber, Frederick Barclay’s former son-in-law, has been appointed to help them weigh up potential options for the 113-years-old hotel after a number of offers in the region of £800m were received, The Times reported.
The Barclay family has reportedly received numerous offers for the prestigious central London hotel, which has hosted famous names such as Charlie Chaplin, Jackie Onassis and Sir Roger Moore , in the past,
However, they have previously argued the bids undervalued the business.
According to the hotel’s latest financial filings, profit before tax almost halved from £12.8m to £7.9m last year while turnover increased from £46m to £47m.
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Meanwhile the casino business, which operates out of the Piccadilly hotel’s basement, reported a total loss of £10.4m in 2018, an improvement on the £11.7m lost in 2017.
Turnover dropped from £21.3m to £17.6m as the number of “VIP” customers visiting from Far East countries slumped. The casino said it is actively trying to attract new customers from the Middle East region.
Main image credit: Getty