Saudi Wealth Fund in Talks to Buy Rocco Forte Hotels Stake

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund is in talks to buy a stake in Rocco Forte Hotels Ltd. that could value the luxury hotels group at $1.4 billion, people with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg.

The kingdom’s Public Investment Fund is frontrunner to acquire the holding, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing confidential information. PIF may buy a significant minority in Rocco Forte Hotels, including a stake held by a fund linked to Italy’s state-owned lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti SpA, they said.

The hotel group’s co-founder and chairman, the British-born businessman Rocco Forte, will retain control in any deal, according to the people. Deliberations are ongoing and there’s no certainty they’ll result in a transaction, they said. Other bidders could also emerge for the stake.

Rocco Forte Hotels operates more than a dozen luxury hotels, resorts and villas—including Brown’s in London, The Balmoral in Edinburgh and Hotel de Russie in Rome—as well as a string of upmarket restaurants. A fund linked to CDP acquired a 23% stake in the business for £60 million ($72 million) in 2014.

PIF has been investing in hospitality with a view to boosting tourism in the kingdom and modernizing an oil-dependent economy. Last year, it invested $50 million in Habitas, an operator of sustainability-focused lodgings, alongside A&K Travel Group, and injected $900 million to support the global expansion of Aman Group.