Ashkenazy adds Grosvenor House to collection of icons
Ashkenazy Acquisition, the US property investor that recently bought a stake in New York’s Plaza Hotel, has acquired the Grosvenor House Hotel in London, helping to resolve an imbroglio that kept ownership of the famed properties in limbo for three years.
Terms of the purchase, announced on Friday, were not disclosed. The Grosvenor House acquisition “reflects a continued aggressive focus” on buying an additional €2bn of “global iconic assets” over the next two years, New York-based Ashkenazy said in a statement.
Billionaire brothers David and Simon Reuben held the debt on the Plaza and Grosvenor House, which were cross-collateralised with another hotel, the Dream Downtown in New York. The Reubens bought the debt after a default by Sahara India Pariwar, controlled by Subrata Roy, who was imprisoned in India in 2014 for allegedly defrauding investors.
The Reubens scheduled an auction for the Plaza early in 2016 then cancelled it after negotiating a debt extension. Ashkenazy Acquisition recently bought a stake in the Plaza Hotel on Fifth Avenue, New York. Prospective buyers including Qatar Investment Authority had explored a purchase.
The chateau-like Plaza, on the corner of Fifth Avenue and Central Park South, has changed hands many times over its 110year history.
LONG HISTORY
The Grosvenor House opened in 1929 on Park Lane in the Mayfair neighbourhood, which is one of London’s poshest.
The property is managed by Marriott International.
Ashkenazy’s other holdings include Union Station in Washington, Faneuil Hall Marketplace in Boston and 625 Madison Avenue in New York.
The firm has assets valued at more than $10bn with a focus on retail, hotel, office and residential properties, according to a statement.