Bill Gates takes control of Four Seasons group, owner of the Ritz hotel

  • ECO News
  • 9 September 2021

Cascade Investment will acquire a 71.25% stake in the company that owns the Four Seasons hotel chain.

Cascade Investment, a company owned by Bill Gates, will acquire a 71.25% stake in the company that owns the Four Seasons hotel chain. The deal was closed for €2.21 billion.

Bill Gates’ investment company has reached an agreement with Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts to increase its stake in the company. Cascade Investment will now own 71.25% of the hotel group’s share capital, the company announced in a statement.

This position was acquired from Kingdom Holding Co, based in Saudi Arabia, which will continue to hold the remaining 23.75%, while the chairman of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts Isadore Sharp keeps a 5% stake. The deal values the hotel chain at $10 billion on an enterprise basis, with the sale expected to be completed in January 2022.

The Four Seasons group opened its first hotel in 1961 and is currently responsible for managing 121 hotels or resorts, as well as 46 residential properties, spread across 47 countries. In Portugal, the group owns the Ritz hotel in Lisbon.