Raffles Hotel Put On Market As Prince Alwaleed Attempts To Stop Wealth Draining Away

London Times ^ | April 15, 2009

[Steelfish]

April 16, 2009

Raffles Hotel put on market as Prince Alwaleed attempts to stop wealth draining away

Dominic Walsh

A byword for colonial grandeur, and a favourite watering hole of such literary luminaries as Somerset Maugham, Joseph Conrad and Rudyard Kipling, Raffles Hotel, home to the Singapore Sling cocktail, has been put up for sale for up to $450 million (£300 million). Apparently, the hotel's owner, Prince Alwaleed of Saudi Arabia, is feeling the pinch.

The Times understands that Fairmont Raffles Hotels International, in which the Prince's Kingdom Holding Company (KHC) has a controlling stake, is seeking buyers for its remaining hotel assets, despite the depressed state of the property market, and it is understood he may even be prepared to sell his stake in the company itself.

Hotel industry sources believe that the Prince, dubbed the Warren Buffett of the Gulf, is looking at a range of disposals in response to the sharp fall in value of some of his biggest investments. KHC has seen a big drop in the value of its investments in companies including Songbird Estates, the majority owner of Canary Wharf, Euro Disney and News Corporation, parent company of The Times.

(snip)

But it is his 3.9 per cent stake in Citigroup, long seen as a bellwether of his fortunes, that has caused the biggest hole in his wealth, falling from more than $50 a share two years ago to less than $4. In October he sought to stabilise the situation by upping his holding to 5 per cent, but the shares have continued to fall.

According to Fortune, the Prince's wealth has fallen from $21 billion to about $13 billion

[JoeVet]

Hhhhmmmm ... now where did I put that violin?

[americanophile]

The Grande Dame of the east...I remember the hotel before the current owners renovated it, and removed the original 'Long Bar,' which had so much history and authenticity. The hotel is far more commerical now, but in the words of Somerset Maugham, Raffles still "stands for all the fables of the exotic east".I'm glad the Saudi's won't have it...it would be great to see a British owner.