Diageo "sold Gleneagles, Scotland's luxury hotel and golf resort, after 31 years of ownership, to boutique hotel operator, Ennismore," according to Scheherazade Daneshkhu of the FINANCIAL TIMES. Ivan Menezes, CEO of the Johnnie Walker scotch and Smirnoff vodka-maker, confirmed the sale of the Perthshire hotel on Wednesday, saying it had taken place because "the hotel is not a core business for us." Ennismore, which began in '12 with the Hoxton hotel in Shoreditch, east London, "is expanding internationally with Hoxton hotels due to open over the next few years" in Amsterdam, N.Y. and Paris. The Ryder Cup golf tournament "was held at Gleneagles last year and the hotel has in the past played host to a G8 leader summit." Menezes said that "it was a good time to capitalise on buyer interest for the hotel generated after the Ryder Cup." The price was not disclosed but analysts said that it was likely to have been in the £150M-£180M ($234M-$280M) range and short of the £200M ($312M) price tag. The 850-acre site, built in the '20s, "made an operating profit" of £2.6M on sales of £43.5M in the year to June 30, 2014. Diageo would "retain a relationship with Gleneagles by continuing to display its Scotch brands at the hotel" (FT, 7/1).
