LONDON Nomura Securities Co. s private equity unit is likely to buy the Cumberland Hotel here for about #150 million, or $219.5 million, the Times of London reported, without citing sources. The Nomura unit, led by Guy Hands, may buy the 890-room hotel through the Grand Hotels Acquisitions Company that it created in January to buy the Principal Hotels chain, the paper reported.
The Cumberland is one of three London hotels operating under the Signature brand and is being sold as part of Granada Compass Plc s #3 billion, or $4.4 billion, auction of its Forte Hotels. Nomura decided not to buy the other two hotels, the newspaper said.
Granada Compass has been looking to sell its hotel chains for some time now. An auction for the assets is ongoing, with bidders including Nomura, Marriott International and Millennium & Copthorne, among others. (3/13/01)
<:P>SOURCE:Bloomberg News