Britannia Hospitality, owned by Egypt's El Sharkawy family, has bought London's Stafford hotel for a reported £77.5m from pubs and hotel firm Daniel Thwaites.
The purchase of the 105-room hotel in St James took place at 1am this morning, and is part of the El Sharkawy family's plans to expand into global capitals.
Shire Hotels said the sale would enable it to both “significantly reduce” its bank borrowings and to be well positioned to fund appropriate development opportunities in the future.
The hotel said in a statement: “Shire Hotels has been proud to own and operate The Stafford since 1995. Under the leadership of Terry Holmes and, more recently, Stuart Procter, general manager of the hotel, the Stafford has gone from strength to strength and enjoys a world-wide reputation for excellence, confirmed by the award of 5 Red Star status in 2008.
“Whilst it is sad to be saying goodbye to the hotel and the team that makes it one of London’s finest, we are pleased to hand it over to the Elsharkawy family in such good shape. They have exciting plans for the hotel and also recognise the unique value that the long serving team of staff add to the guest experience.”
Daniel Thwaites paid Trafalgar House construction group £16m for the Stafford in 1994. In 2005, it bought the building next door for £10.5m and spent £12m adding 26 bedrooms.
RAMW Group is a Cairo construction and tourism company founded by Roushdy El-Sharkawy’s whose assets include the Hyatt Regency resort and hotel in Sharm el Sheikh.
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By Gemma Sharkey
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