Saudi prince planning takeover of iconic New York Plaza Hotel
Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud is set for a full takeover of New York’s storied Plaza hotel.
Prince Alwaleed already has a 25% stake in the landmark hotel and is keen to buy out the 75% owned by embattled Indian businessman Subrata Roy.
Roy is currently languishing in an Indian jail after failing to appear at a fraud case hearing relating to his Sahara Group business.
The court has allowed Sahara to identify a buyer for its hotel portfolio, including the New York Plaza, in order to pay off a huge $1 billion-plus bail bond.
Sahara is mired in a long running legal battle with the Indian courts and financial regulator after the sale of illegal bonds worth billions of dollars.
"If the opportunity comes up whereby we can increase our stake we will," Alwaleed said.
"We will look at the deal when it comes, when Sahara decides eventually to push the button and act on this matter."
Sahara also owns a second New York property – the Dream Hotel – as well as the landmark Grosvenor House in London, but the Prince has shown no interest in these.
"Sahara has other hotels that are in the group but we don’t care about those. Zero interest," he said.
Sahara acquired its stake in the Plaza for an estimated value of $570 million.
It has 282 rooms including the 4,490 square-feet Royal Suite which has three bedrooms and sells for a cool $30,000 a night.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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