Pacific Group, the Monaco- and Switzerland-based company chaired by Greek shipping tycoon Achilleas Kallakis, has built up a 6% stake in the InterContinental Hotels Group.
Sources said that the private family trust has been buying shares through subsidiaries, and was considering mounting a takeover bid for the hotel group.
This could pit Kallakis, a major investor in UK property, against the Barclay brothers, who have built up a 10% stake and have been named as potential bidders for the group.
InterContinental now owns only two properties – including the InterContinental London Park Lane – having sold off 179 hotels for £3bn since 2003. It operates 3,800 hotels around the world, and posted operating profits up 22% to £66m in the third quarter to 30 September, with 70% of its profits coming from the US.
One source said: “Pacific sees value both in the remaining freeholds as well as its management contracts on properties, which it sees as a foot in the door in terms of opportunities with the attached real estate.”
Pacific now has a £1.5bn UK portfolio, including The Daily Telegraph HQ at 111 Buckingham Palace Road, SW1, which Kallakis bought from the Barclay brothers for £225m in August, and 7-8 St James’s Square, SW1, which he bought from Hermes Real Estate for around £125m.
