The Ritz London, UK on 5 December 2013 [pathikAvashi/Flickr]
When the iconic hotel, the Ritz London, was sold in March for some $927 million to a private Qatari investor, there were speculations over who the individual that managed to get their hands on one of the most prestigious real-estate in the capital was. It now turns out that its none other than the brother-in-law of Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar. Details of the sale, including the bitter family feud between the previous owners of Ritz, were reported in the Financial Times.
Filings at the UK’s Companies House reveal that 40-year-old Qatari businessman Abdulhadi Mana Al-Hajri is the new owner. He is the brother of Sheikha Al-Anoud, the second wife of Sheikh Al Thani, who has been the emir of the gas rich Gulf State since 2013. Al-Hajri is said to have taken over a company as early as February that went on to acquired the group that ultimately owned the Ritz a month later on 25 March. No name was announced during the sale only that an unnamed Qatari had bought the hotel.
Despite being the brother-in-law of the emir, Al-Hajri is described as a businessman and an investor in his own right. He also owns an expensive riverside mansion in Turkey through a UK investment company, according to the FT. The sale took place during a bitter row over the Barclay family’s fortunes, who previously owned the Ritz. The Qataris are the single largest investors in the UK and are said to own more land in London than the Queen, according to the BBC.
The iconic London Shard building, which is the tallest in Europe, several skyscrapers in Canary Wharf and exclusive locations in Hyde Park are just some of the prime real estates which have come into the possession of the Qataris.
Source: Middle East Monitor