Gleneagles Hotel goes on the market

Ryder Cup resort expected to sell for as much as £200m after being put up for sale

JUST a matter of months after staging a hugely successful Ryder Cup, the Gleneagles Hotel is on the look-out for a new owner.The five-star Perthshire resort has gone on the market and is expected to sell for as much as £200m.

The 850-acre resort, which previously failed to sell in 1998 when offers failed to meet the expected £100m price tag, comprises a 232-bedroom hotel and three 18-hole golf courses, including the PGA Centenary Course, which staged last September’s match between Europe and the USA.

A spokesperson for current owners Diageo – which has operated the venue since 1984 – told the BBC: “Gleneagles is one of the UK’s finest luxury hotels and one of the world’s most fantastic golf resorts.

 “We are sure there are many people who would love to own Gleneagles and we have received numerous expressions of interest over the years and particularly since the Ryder Cup.

“As you would expect, we have a duty to consider such interest carefully.”

Property firm Jones Lang LaSalle have been appointed to find a buyer for the resort and it has been reported in some quarters that American private equity firm KSL Capital Partners – the owners of another Ryder Cup resort, The Belfry, near Birmingham – are interested in making an offer.

SEAMLESS

Based on the success of last year’s Ryder Cup, it’s hard to imagine that a new owner for Gleneagles will be hard to find.

The resort was universally praised for its largely seamless staging of the contest, which was beamed into more than half a billion homes around the world via a huge network of television broadcasters.

On top of that, over a quarter of a million people from 96 countries attended the match in person, as Paul McGinley inspired Europe to a third consecutive victory over the US.

Gleneagles Hotel opened in 1924 and was originally conceived by Donald Matheson, the then general manager of the Caledonian Railway. Inspired by French chateaux of the day, the resort has become one of Scotland’s most prestigious hotels and, as well as last Ryder Cup, has played host to other high-profile events, including a G8 Summit in 2005.

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