Savoy 'is up for sale'

THE Savoy Group, owner of Claridge's and the Connaught hotels, is up for sale, reports claimed today.

Just weeks after the revamp of the famous Savoy Grill, the American owners of the company were said to be sounding out potential buyers.

The rumour comes as London hotels suffer from a fall in the number of overseas businessmen visiting the capital, especially from the US.

The Daily Telegraph quoted sources close to the company as saying: "They don't want the sale to be widely known about. They are speaking to a handful of investors who would be interested in trophy assets."

American investors Blackstone Group and Colony Capital bought the company from the wealthy Wontner family five years ago for pounds 520 million and have since invested heavily in sometimes controversial makeovers of the group's famous hotels.

Sir Rocco Forte has said in the past that he would be keen to buy the Savoy Hotel, recently saying: "I'd like to own it. I think it needs a bit of tender, loving care."

Taking over the Savoy Hotel would recall a long-running battle between the Forte and Wontner families.

Sir Rocco's father Charles spent his last 15 years as chairman of the Forte group in a battle for control of the Savoy Group, which ended with him owning the majority of the shares, but with no controlling vote.

Sir Hugh Wontner, who presided over the Savoy Group until his death in 1993, made no secret of his contempt for Forte: He once said: "I've known little Forte since he ran his milk bar."

Speculation about a sale, repeatedly denied by the Savoy Group, is bound to heighten interest among potential bidders.

It comes as another London hotel operator, Le Meridien, faces a serious financial crisis. The group has huge debts and towering rent payments after a deal to effectively mortgage its hotels with the Royal Bank of Scotland.

The Savoy's current owners have appointed financial advisers Deutsche Bank to draw up a sales prospectus for the three trophy assets, together with a price tag of pounds 20 million on the Savoy's Lygon Arms hotel in the Cotswolds, according to the Telegraph.

The Savoy Grill has recently undergone a Barbara Barryinspired facelift.

The Savoy Group has owned the Connaught since 1956 while Claridge's, which first opened its doors in 1812, has been with the group since 1894.

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