Landmark London hotels may be taken over by the state

from the Irish Times (2/26):

Can Nama give hotels the five-star treatment?
by GRETCHEN FRIEMANN

"Up to 200 hotels are set to transfer to the State, many of which are very expensive to run..."

"THREE LANDMARK London hotels, the Berkeley, Claridges and the Connaught, which are owned by financier Derek Quinlan's Maybourne Hotel Group, may end up being controlled by the National Asset Management Agency (Nama) within the next few months as the transfer of an initial €16 billion in loans nears completion.

According to well-placed sources, the first tranche of properties earmarked for Nama will also include five prestigious Irish hotels: the Shelbourne, the K-Club, the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Wicklow, and the Radisson and G Hotel in Galway. All these high-profile establishments are linked to the top 10 developers whose multi-billion-euro portfolios will form the first wave of €80 billion in loans being moved into the State's asset recovery agency." ...

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