Belfry Owner pitches £150m offer for Gleneagles

KSL Capital Partners, a US-based private equity firm, is one of two remaining bidders for the venue of last autumn’s Ryder Cup.

According to Sky News, KSL Capital has targeted the 850-acre site owned by Diageo, the FTSE-100 drinks group, which has received two firm offers to buy the site in the last few weeks.

The identity of the other final bidder has not yet been disclosed or become known.

It is the second time that Diageo, which owns Guinness and Smirnoff, has attempted to offload Gleneagles, having run an aborted sale process in 1998.

The timing of the current auction is delicate given Gleneagles’s status as one of Scotland’s most recognisable leisure and hospitality assets.

Last September’s Ryder Cup saw Europe beat the US by 16.5 to 11.5, with more than 120,000 people visiting the course during the event.

KSL is said to be determined to add Gleneagles to its portfolio of interests, with Malmaison Group, the hotel operator it owns, on the point of being sold to a private equity group or a buyer from Singapore.

Accounts filed at Companies House for the year to June 30, 2014 disclose that Gleneagles paid £41.8m to its owner during the period on the back of strong sales and profits.

In a statement, a Diageo spokeswoman said: “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, but can’t make any further comment at this time.”

The property agent JLL is handling the Gleneagles auction.