Saudi’s Kingdom Holding sells Four Seasons Toronto for $171.8m

Dubai: Saudi Arabia’s Kingdom Holding, the investment firm owned by billionaire Prince Al Waleed Bin Talal, said on Sunday it had sold the Four Seasons Hotel Toronto for a gross price of 225 million Canadian dollars (Dh629.3 million, $171.8 million).

The property was sold to family investment vehicles related to Shahid Khan, Pakistani-American founder of automobile parts maker Flex-N-Gate Group and owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars American football team and London’s Fulham Football Club.

The sale occurred as a weak Canadian dollar increases interest among foreign investors eager to diversify their holdings with Canadian assets including real estate.

Canada’s KingSett Real Estate Growth LP and InnVest REIT bought 80 per cent of another iconic downtown Toronto hotel, the Fairmont Royal York Hotel, for C$186.5 million early last year.

Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, in which Kingdom Holding owns 47.5 per cent alongside a similar stake held by Bill Gates’ Cascade Investment, will continue to operate the Four Seasons Toronto.