Sir Rocco Forte has agreed to sell 49% of his family’s luxury hotel chain to Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund.
Rocco Forte Hotels, which owns 14 upmarket hotels including Brown’s in London and the Balmoral in Edinburgh, announced on Monday that it had agreed to sell almost half of the company to Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund in a deal that values the hotel group at about £1.2bn.
Forte, who founded the hotel group with his sister Olga Polizzi in 1996, said PIF would be an “excellent partner” and help the company expand specifically in the Middle East. Rocco and Polizzi will remain as the executive chair and the deputy chair but their four sisters are understood to be exiting the firm.
PIF is chaired by the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, whose government has been accused of numerous human rights violations. Last week the fund, which has more than $700bn (£550bn) in assets made via oil wealth, bought a 10% stake in Heathrow airport. In 2021 it bought a majority stake in Newcastle United, and it has become a big financial player in professional golf.
“PIF is an excellent partner for us going forward,” Forte said. “We have established an extremely good relationship during the course of our negotiations. They share the same vision for the brand and the future strategy of the group, with the same ambition to take a long-term view.”
Turqi Al-Nowaiser, the PIF deputy governor and head of international investments, said: “Our investment in Rocco Forte Hotels reflects PIF’s confidence in both the commercial opportunity and strength of the international hospitality and tourism industries that have shown remarkable resilience in recent years. As active long-term investors, PIF will continue to invest strategically in promising sectors to achieve sustainable returns globally.”
The deal comes as a planned Abu Dhabi-backed takeover of the Daily Telegraph is being investigated by the regulator Ofcom. The culture secretary, Lucy Frazer, last week intervened in the proposed sale of the Telegraph and the Spectator to RedBird IMI, the investment fund behind the purchase, amid concerns over the potential impact on media freedom.
Rocco Forte Hotels owns 14 hotels and resorts, as well as 20 private villas across Italy, the UK, Germany, Belgium and Russia. It plans to open three hotels in 2024 and 2025.
Forte had been a supporter of Brexit and hosted a £12,000 leadership victory party for Boris Johnson. Later, frustrated with the party’s handling of Brexit, he vowed to not contribute to the party again. However, earlier this year he bolstered the Tory coffers in a move designed to support the arch-Brexiter Steve Baker.
Electoral Commission data shows Forte gave £10,000 to the Conservatives through their Wycombe branch this year, marking his first donation to the party since 2019, when he gave £100,000 on the eve of Johnson’s election victory.
It is understood that Forte specifically made the donation to support Baker, the MP for Wycombe, who was one of the Tories’ fiercest campaigners to get the UK out of the EU.
