Boutique hotel operator the Scotsman Hotel Group has been bought for more than £60m by MBI International, a £2b multinational corporation owned by Saudi tycoon Sheikh Mohamed Bin Issa Al Jaber.

The group, which was launched in 1999 as a £90m joint venture between Botts Private Equity and the Bank of Scotland, has three townhouse hotels: the Scotsman in Edinburgh, 42 The Calls in Leeds and the Hôtel de la Trémoille in Paris.

MBI also owns JJW Hotels & Resorts, which operates 55 hotels in Europe and the Middle East.

The three Scotsman hotels will become the heart of a new MBI portfolio of luxury European hotels.