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Private equity players on course to buy Turnberry

By Ian Fraser

Published: The Sunday Times

Date: November 11th, 2007

Turnberry-Resort-Golf-Scotland-568x305TURNBERRY, the Ayrshire hotel and golfing complex put up for sale by US owners Starwood Hotels & Resorts, is likely to be bought by private equity players, say property sources.

The hotels group, advised by Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels, intends to finalise a shortlist by December 7.

Potential bidders for Turnbury, expected to be valued at up to £100m, include private equity group Blackstone, which recently paid £12.9 billion for Hilton Hotels and Host Hotels & Resorts, a US real-estate investment trust.

Three Irish investors are also said to be interested. These are Pat Hegarty, whose WG Mitchell Group recently sold the Radisson Glasgow for £64m, Sean Quinn and Derek Quinlan.

Richard Caring, owner of The Ivy restaurant and Wentworth golf course, was also touted as a possible bidder. Another possible purchaser is Hillwood Resorts, which paid £26m for Peter de Savary’s Bovey Castle in Devon in September 2006.

Starwood Capital, now a separate company from Starwood Hotels & Resorts (SH&R), which in 2005 bought some hotels from Hilton, including the Dunblane Hydro and Hilton East Kilbride in partnership with Glasgow’s Charndon Hotels, may also be a dark horse contender.

Whatever happens, SH&R want to retain a nine to 20-year “sale and manage back” contract on the 219-room Turnbury and its affiliated lodges and leisure facilities.

Stephen Walker, sales and marketing director at the resort, said: “This fits with our strategy of wanting to be a manager and operator of hotels rather that merely an owner.”

This article first published in The Sunday Times on November 11th 2007

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