Yitzhak Tshuva's partner in New York's Plaza Hotel, Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, does not want to sell his stake in it, reports "Bloomberg". Tshuva owns his stake in the hotel through Elad Properties, and bin Talal owns 50% of the hotel's rooms and 25% of the 100 rooms that were sold as condominiums and rented out as hotel rooms through Kingdom Holding Company (Saudi: KINGDOM). According to the Indian press, Sahara India Pariwar Ltd. is in talks with Elad to buy the hotel at a value of $600 million
Kingdom spokesman Charles Henry told "Bloomberg", “Kingdom isn’t planning on selling at this point in time. The prince’s objective is to be a long-term investor in this kind of iconic asset." He added that, in 2004, Kingdom sold its stake in the hotel to Elad and bought back a portion soon after.
Kingdom also holds a stake in Canada's Fairmont Hotels & Resorts Inc., the Plaza’s operator. The century-old Plaza, overlooking New York's Central Park, was reopened in March 2008 after a $400 million two-year restoration.
Elad spokesman Lloyd Kaplan and Sahara India Pariwar have not responded to "Bloomberg's" requests for comment.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on April 10, 2012
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