Firmdale, the London boutique hotel chain which counts Halle Berry, Daniel Craig and John Travolta among its guests, has revealed that it has sold a 20% stake in the business to Swedish pharmaceuticals tycoon Lennart Perlhagen.
In 2015 Tim Kemp valued the business at £500 million to £600 million and 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 £1.5 billion.
They were so successful that they were joined by three properties in New York and the combined Firmdale Holdings business generated £17.8 million of operating profit on a record £198.2 million of revenue in the year to 31 January 2024.
Recently-filed documents show that Perlhagen became a Firmdale shareholder in December 2021 with his stake represented on the board by his son Richard who co-founded investment firm Greybull Capital, a former owner of British Steel.
It is the first time that a significant stake in Firmdale has been sold to an external investor since it was founded in 1985 by husband and wife team Tim and Kit Kemp.
