By: Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News: Neil Callanan: 25 January 2013
Anschutz Entertainment Group Inc., the world’s largest owner of sports teams, agreed to sell land near London’s O2 Arena to a group of investors that plan a $450 million hotel and residential project.
A joint venture between Queensgate Investments Fund I and undisclosed partners will develop a 452-room luxury hotel, a conference center and 100 homes on the 7.4 acre (3-hectare) site, according to a statement by Luxemburg-based Queensgate. AEG, part owner of the National Basketball Association’s Los Angeles Lakers, has retained an undisclosed interest in the development project.
The O2 Arena is the most-visited music venue in the world with 8 million people a year attending concerts there, according to the statement. Construction on the new project is due to start before April and finish in 2015. The hotel, beside the River Thames on the Greenwich Peninsula, will be operated by Arora Hotels Ltd.
“The transaction underlines our strategy to pursue opportunities with downside protection, partnerships with premier operating partners, and transactions with multiple value creation angles,” Jason Kow, Queensgate Investments LLP’s chief executive officer, said in the statement. Queensgate Investments advised the fund.
The homes will be sold through broker Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. (JLL)
