Ennismore The Victor In Battle For Gleneagles

A London-based boutique hotel operator is on course to be handed the keys to Gleneagles next week after agreeing a deal to buy the venue of last year’s Ryder Cup for more than £150m.

Sky News can exclusively reveal that Ennismore Capital, which owns The Hoxton hotel brand, is poised to emerge as the surprise victor of an auction conducted by Gleneagles’ owner, Diageo (LSE: DGE.L - news) .

Property industry sources said on Friday that Diageo, the FTSE-100 drinks company behind Smirnoff and Johnnie Walker, was likely to announce the sale next week.

The takeover will catapult Ennismore and its chief executive, Sharan Pasricha, into the spotlight, as his company takes ownership of one of the world’s best known golf courses.

Ennismore is understood to have seen off competition from two rival bidders in the latter stages of the auction: KSL Capital Partners, which owns The Belfry, and Ralph Trustees, owner of London’s Athenaeum hotel and The Grove in Hertfordshire.

The price being paid by Ennismore was unclear, although insiders said that at least one of the other contenders had offered £150m for Gleneagles.

Diageo, which has itself been the subject of takeover speculation in recent weeks, is understood to have insisted that any new owner of Gleneagles would “uphold the traditions and maintain a sense of history” at the site, a source said.

Although the venue itself is non-core to Diageo’s business, a long-term distribution deal is expected to ensure that the company’s brands, which also include Guinness and Gordon’s gin, continue to be served at the 850-acre site in Perthshire, Scotland.

The sale comes at an important time for Diageo and its chief executive, Ivan Menezes, who has been in the job for just under two years and is facing a series of challenges, particularly in the company’s emerging markets businesses.

Ennismore, which is privately owned, operates two hotels under The Hoxton brand in Shoreditch and Holborn in Central London,

The Gleneagles deal will indicate the scale of the new owner’s ambitions as it aims to expand the Hoxton brand to cities around the world.

Assuming next week’s announcement takes place, it will be second time lucky for Diageo, which ran an aborted sale process in 1998.

Last September's Ryder Cup saw Europe comfortably beating the US team, with more than 120,000 people visiting the course during the event.

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 earlier this year, 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."

Diageo and JLL, the property agent which has been handling the Gleneagles auction, declined to comment.

Ennismore Capital could not be reached for comment.