Raffles Hotel Deal Is Off After All

Source : TODAY, Weekend, May 31, 2008

A CONSORTIUM :led by former Credit Suisse banker Mark Pawley that was to have bought the grand dame has called the deal off, :The Business Times: (BT) reported on Friday.

“We regret to say that the sale will not be completed as planned,” a consortium spokeswoman was quoted as saying. “The consortium is very disappointed with the current outcome as we had hoped for a win-win solution involving all parties.”

A spokeswoman for Raffles Hotel confirmed the news with Today. Both parties declined to give reasons for the deal being called off, citing confidentiality clauses.

The spokeswoman for the buyers, according to BT, also rebuffed suggestions that the consortium might have faced funding problems, saying: “We have the money. To say otherwise is baseless.”

The hotel sale, including the adjoining shopping arcade, was announced on May 8. The deal was reported to be in the range of $650 million.

Fairmont Raffles Hotels International — controlled by Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed Talal and American-based private equity firm Colony Capital — had bought over the iconic hotel for $1.7 billion only in 2005. They would have continued running the property through a management contract if the sale had gone through.