Former owners of Four Seasons paid €2m to end deal

The Livingstone brothers, the former owners of the Intercontinental Hotel in Ballsbridge, Dublin 4, paid €2 million to cancel the hotel’s contract with the Four Seasons group last year, according to accounts just filed.

The accounts for Ballsbridge Hotel Ltd show the business had turnover of €20.8 million in the year to the end of September 2014, compared with €17.7 million over the 11 months to that date in 2013.

The business booked a pre-tax loss of €1.87 million when the payment to the Four Seasons group was taken into account. Notes to the accounts said the principal objective of the business was to grow turnover so as to achieve capital appreciation.

Investment group

A consortium backed by US billionaire cable TV magnate

John Malone

bought the hotel earlier this year. It had been on the market for an estimated €50 million. It was the fifth Irish hotel purchased in recent times by Mr Malone, who chairs Liberty Global, parent of UPC.

Mr Malone bought the hotels, including the Westin, Hilton and Trinity City hotels in Dublin and the Limerick Strand Hotel, in partnership with Lalco, a group founded by developer John Lally. A request to speak to a representative of the hotel met with no response.

The Livingstone brothers’ London & Regional Properties group acquired the hotel less than five years ago for about €15 million and is understood to have made a significant return on its initial investment.

Ian and Richard Livingstone own one of the largest property investment groups in Europe and use companies in Luxembourg and Ireland as part of their tax planning.

The London & Regional portfolio is worth more than €12 billion, according to its website. A request to speak to a representative met with no response.

Ballsbridge Hotel Ltd’s accounts show a €2.9 million debt to an Irish company, which was interest free, was transferred to a Luxembourg company, SRE Portfolios Luxembourg Sarl, in October 2013. The loan took on an 8 per cent interest rate at the time of the move.

The latest accounts for SRE Portfolios Luxembourg, which are for the year to the end of October 2013, show a profit of €138.4 million and that it paid tax of €2,937. It had no staff.