Gleneagles, the Highland venue for last year’s Ryder Cup, is to be put up for sale after owner Diageo announced it had received ‘numerous expressions of interest’ since the matches took place last September.
The five-star Perthshire resort, which has three golf courses and 232 guest rooms, could fetch more than £200 million.
Diageo has owned Gleneagles since 1984, three years after it was sold by British Rail. Property firm Jones Lang LaSalle has now been drafted in to seek potential buyers. US private equity firm KSL Capital Partners, which owns The Belfry, was reported to among companies that have expressed an interest.
A spokesman for Diageo said: “Gleneagles is one of the UK’s finest luxury hotels and one of the world’s most fantastic golf resorts. We are sure there are many people who would love to own Gleneagles, and have received numerous expressions of interest over the years, and particularly since the Ryder Cup.”
The King’s and Queen’s golf courses opened in 1919, while the third, the PGA Centenary Course, was created by Jack Nicklaus in 1993, and served as the host course for the Ryder Cup.
The hotel site includes an activities centre whose shooting school was originally named after Formula One champion Sir Jackie Stewart, and an equestrian centre that was named after horseman Mark Phillips, Princess Anne’s former husband. One of its latest ventures is the Gleneagles Arena, a £650,000 indoor tennis centre and conference venue, which is due to be completed in the spring.