West Belfast-born property investor Paddy McKillen has reportedly been awarded more than £700 million arising from a dispute with the Qatari owners of three upmarket hotels in London.
The long-running legal row stemmed from the developer’s refurbishment of five-star hotels Claridge’s, The Berkeley and The Connaught in a partnership with the Maybourne Hotel Group.
It followed the £1.3 billion acquisition of the luxury hotel group by a Qatari consortium in 2015, led by the billionaire former prime minister of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al-Thani.
As part of the deal, Mr McKillen (70), who had been an investor in the group, was retained on a consultancy contract to run and refurbish the venues.
The major of renovation of Claridge’s, which was the subject of a BBC documentary series, involved a number of Northern Ireland firms, including McCue, Setanta Construction, Rainy & Best and Kane.
Under the seven year arrangement, which was due to end at the end of 2022, the Belfast native would be granted 36% of any subsequent increase in valuation, minus the cost of the work.
As a result, Paddy McKillen claimed he was owed at least £1bn for his involvement, which ended in April 2022.
The Qataris disputed that estimate and came up with a much lower figure.
According to The Times, a three-person arbitration panel, which met in May this year, has awarded Mr McKillen between £700m and £800m.
It’s believed to be one of the highest awards of its kind issued by the London Court of International Arbitration.
It would value the hotel group at between £4bn and £4.25bn.
Quoting a source close to the west Belfast native, The Times said his side had estimated the value of the hotel group at £6bn in 2022, which would have entitled Mr McKillen to around £1.4bn.
The conclusion of the arbitration process may not end the long-running hotel legal saga.
Both parties can challenge the outcome, although successful appeals are rare.
Mr McKillen may also need to go to court to enforce the award, should the losing party refuse to pay.
The Times said representatives for both McKillen and the Maybourne Group declined to comment.
