Property developer Paddy McKillen says he does not believe the state of Qatar supports the owners of the Maybourne Hotel Group in their court dispute with him. The group, which owns the luxury Claridge’s, Connaught and Berkeley hotels in London, is controlled by a former emir and a former prime minister of Qatar.
“From what I hear, the state doesn’t like this battle over the most famous hotels in the world,” Mr McKillen told The Irish Times. “I think the present regime is not happy with the way I’ve been treated, and [feel] I should be paid honourably, and that this court situation should be taken out of the newspapers.”
Mr McKillen claims he is owed about €1 billion under a profit-share agreement reached with the Qataris in 2015 when they took over his 36 per cent interest in the Maybourne group. He has also taken legal proceedings in California and France to secure payment of multi-million fees for refurbishing the Maybourne Beverly Hills and the Maybourne Riviera.
“After seven years with the Qataris I believe they cheated me out of my rightful earnings and their policy is to tire me out and delay things through court cases,” Mr McKillen said. “Instead of having a fantastic end-of-partnership party, they decided to send an email in the middle of the night saying ‘don’t come into the hotels, don’t talk to the guests’. They’re pretty tough people. So yes it’s going to be a tough fight, but I’m up for it.”
Mr McKillen’s claim is linked to the value of the Maybourne Hotel Group, on which the two sides disagree. “I am not allowed to say how much they owe me. But the Financial Times has estimated the hotels as being worth €5 billion. Of which, after costs, I am entitled to 36 per cent,” he said. “I have created 64 per cent for my two partners. They don’t see that as a reason to pay me. So I am very upset and annoyed, as you can imagine.
“They’ve made an awful lot of money out of my sweat. To try to say the hotels aren’t the value [they are] is just a nonsense. So their policy is to drag me through the courts. But I’m big and ugly enough to fight them at their own game.
“Their tactic of criticising me gets away from the point that the hotels are packed, their quality is exceptional, and we did [the refurbishments] under budget and ahead of programme. The fact is they just don’t want to pay me.”
‘No comment’
Asked to respond, Charlotte Alexander-Stace, communications director of the Maybourne Group, said: “We have no comment to make on this.”
Mr McKillen had been involved in a long legal battle with the Barclay brothers — David and Frederick — over the luxury hotel group, and their interest was eventually acquired by the Qataris.
Mr McKillen was speaking last week after being appointed Vietnam’s honorary consul in Ireland. The businessman, who has extensive business interests in Vietnam and is developing the country’s biggest biotech park, has opened a consulate office at 6 St Stephen’s Green in Dublin.
“It’s not that I needed another job, I am busy, but this honorary position came up and given my love for Vietnam, and my anxiety to foster better relations, I couldn’t say no.”
