Nomura International has bought the 17-strong Principal Hotels.
Nomura is one of those involved in the bidding for Granada Compasses Forte hotels which includes 126 Le Meridien properties valued at £1.8bn-£2.2bn.
Nomura would most likely want to retain Le Meridien as a single entity but Bass and Millennium & Copthorne, which submitted a joint bid, would carve the chain up. Marriott International is believed to be likely to sell the name and some of the hotels to a third party, such as Accor of France. Omni Hotels owner Bob Rowling is also thought to have entered the £3.5bn auction for Granada Compass’s hotels.
Financial Times 29/01/01 page 28, page 30 (Working Weekend)
The Times 29/01/01 page 23 (What The Sunday Papers Say)
