Six years ago Derek Quinlan, the former tax inspector from Dublin, outbid one of the richest men in the world, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal.
Quinlan and his partners bought a clutch of London’s smartest hotels — the Savoy, Claridge’s, Berkeley and Connaught — for £750m, outflanking the Saudi billionaire. It was a deal that epitomised the era of easy money.
Today the hefty loans taken out to fund the hotels’ purchase need to be refinanced and wealthy individuals and sovereign funds are hovering in the wings…more