U.S. Investors To Trade Famous Ryder Cup Golf Course, Bagging Huge Profit For Seller
One of the UK’s most famous golf courses and hotels is to be sold from one U.S. investor to another, in a deal that will see the seller make a big profit.
PIMCO is in exclusive talks to buy the Belfry in the UK’s Midlands from KSL Capital Partners, React News reported.
The price being paid is around £140M ($194M). KSL bought the resort for £90M in 2012 and has spent £26M refurbishing it. Irish investor Sean Quinn paid £186M for the asset in 2006, the height of the pre-crash market, using very high leverage, and was forced to sell in the wake of the financial crisis.
The Belfry is situated on a 500-acre estate and has three golf courses as well as a 324-room hotel and conference facility. KSL had plans in place to build another 144 rooms in a separate building on the site.
The Belfry’s flagship course is the Brabazon, which has hosted the Ryder Cup between the U.S. and Europe four times between 1985 and 2002. Europe has won three of those matches and the U.S. one, with that U.S. victory in 1993 the last time it retained the Ryder Cup, thanks to a last-hole victory from Davis Love III.
PIMCO is betting on a revival of the UK’s domestic leisure and conference travel sector in the wake of lockdown restrictions easing, React News said.
