A Qatari state-backed company is to buy the Grosvenor House hotel on London’s Park Lane, the latest in a string of acquisitions of the capital’s trophy assets.
Katara Holdings, which is owned by the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), has bought Grosvenor House for an undisclosed price from private American property investment firm Ashkenazy Acquisition Corporation, Reuters first reported.
Ashkenazy bought the Mayfair property, which overlooks Hyde Park, in 2017. The firm had previously owned a stake in New York’s Plaza, for which Qatar paid a reported $600m earlier this year.
The Qatari fund, which is estimated to have more than $300bn in total assets, owns London’s luxury Savoy and Connaught hotels, the Harrods department storeand the Shard, London’s tallest skyscraper, as well as luxury hotels across the US, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
The oil-rich state has been boosted by higher oil prices during the past year and a recent Qatari buying spree also includes stakes in Volkswagen and Glencore. The purchases have been made in spite of a blockade on the country by Middle Eastern rivals led by Saudi Arabia.
Ashkenazy did not respond to a request for comment. The QIA declined to comment.
