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Firmdale Hotels has sold a 20% stake in its business to Swedish pharmaceuticals tycoon Lennart Perlhagen for a price reported to be around £300m, according to The Standard.
It is the first time that any kind of stake in the business has been sold since it was founded in 1985 by husband and wife duo Tim and Kit Kemp.
Firmdale has a portfolio of eight properties in London including the Ham Yard and the Charlotte Street Hotel.
Following the success of its London properties the company also acquired three hotels in New York, including the Crosby Street Hotel.
Recently-filed documents show that Perlhagen became a shareholder in the company in December 2021.
His stake in the company has been represented on the board by his son Richard who co-founded investment firm Greybull Capital, a former owner of British Steel.
The 82-year-old Swede Perlhagen started out working for the forerunner of Astra-Zeneca and Farmitalia SpA which was acquired by Pfizer.
He went on to set up his own business Cross Pharma and sold it to Swedish company, Meda, where he became a director.
He has a connection to Firmdale through his relative Mona Perlhagen who founded Chelsea Textiles which makes elaborate fabric for the chain’s hotels.
Firmdale Holdings business generated £17.8m of operating profit with record revenues of £198.2m in the year ended 31 January 2024.
In 2015, Tim Kemp valued the business at £500m to £600m since then its revenue has doubled, underlying profit has almost trebled and net assets have increased by 60.3% giving the group a value as high as £1.5bn.
Since 2019, the average room rate of Firmdale’s London hotels has increased 47.1% to £562 as it looked to recover from the pandemic.
