Saudi tycoon Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal. PHOTO | AFP


As temperature rises at the Fairmont hotels, the owner has sold the hotels to Nepalese billionaire. the deal was closed amid the global virus pandemic.


Saudi billionaire Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal has sold his troubled Fairmont The Norfolk and Fairmont Mara Safari Club to a Nepalese tycoon for Sh2.8 billion.



The two hotels came to the limelight last week after the management announced it was firing all the employees, citing the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic.



Prince Al-Waleed, through his company Kingdom Holding limited, sold his stake to the Chaudhary Group (CG). The prince has been reorganizing his duties months after being arrested in Saudi Arabia’s sweeping corruption crackdown.


The Norfolk and Mara Safari Club cost the Nepalese tycoon Sh2.8 billion.


“Prince Alwaleed is no longer in the game after surrendering the ownership of remaining hotel business in Kenya and his investment group is focusing somewhere else,” said his financial advisor.


“The transaction has been closed and now the Nepalese owners are embarking on a full 100 percent renovation that will go for a whole one year.”


The deal included the Norfolk Hotel in Nairobi, the Mount Kenya Safari Club in Nanyuki, the Aberdare Country Club, the Ark, and the Mara Safari Club.



The acquisition was hailed as one of the largest in East Africa at the time. But Prince Alwaleed has taken a strategic decision to divest from hotels, selling Four Seasons Damascus in Syria and Four Seasons Beirut in Lebanon.

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