Belfry Owner Tees Up £150m Gleneagles Offer

The owner of The Belfry has made a formal offer to buy Gleneagles that values the venue of last year's Ryder Cup at more than £150m.

Sky News understands that KSL Capital Partners, a US-based private equity firm, is one of two remaining bidders for Gleneagles, the 850-acre site in Perthshire which is home to the globally renowned golf course.

Diageo (LSE: DGE.L - news) , the FTSE-100 drinks group which owns Gleneagles, has received two firm proposals to buy the site in the last few weeks, according to sources.

The identity of the other final bidder was unclear on Wednesday.

It is not the first time that Diageo, which owns Guinness and Smirnoff, has attempted to offload Gleneagles, having run an aborted sale process in 1998.

The timing of the current auction is delicate given Gleneagles's status as one of Scotland's most recognisable leisure and hospitality assets.

Last September's Ryder Cup saw Europe beat the US by 16.5 to 11.5, with more than 120,000 people visiting the course during the event.

KSL is said to be determined to add Gleneagles to its portfolio of interests, with Malmaison Group, the hotel operator it owns, on the point of being sold to a private equity group or a buyer from Singapore.

Accounts filed at Companies House for the year to June 30, 2014 disclose that Gleneagles paid a £41.8m to its owner during the period on the back of strong sales and profits.

In a statement, a Diageo spokeswoman said: "Gleneagles is one of the UK's finest luxury hotels and one of the world's most fantastic golf resorts.

"We are sure there are many people who would love to own Gleneagles and we have received numerous expressions of interest over the years and particularly since the Ryder Cup.

"As you would expect we have a duty to consider such interest carefully, but can't make any further comment at this time."

The property agent JLL is handling the Gleneagles auction.