Mukesh Ambani has bought the “Goldfinger” Stoke Park golf club for 57 million euros

The richest man in Asia has bought the English country club featured in two James Bond films for 57 million euros, and added a trophy asset to the global portfolio that includes Hamleys toy store in the UK.

Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries subsidiary has agreed a deal for Stoke Park, which includes a 300-acre Georgia mansion in Buckinghamshire, a luxury hotel and a golf club.

The shopping brings glamor to the Amban conglomerate, which is known for its energy and telecommunications businesses in India. “You can see Windsor Castle from the golf course: it’s a trophy asset,” said buying agent Charles McDowell.

Stoke Park has been owned by the King International family, the owner of the International Hospitals Group healthcare company, since 1988. The family put the property up for sale in 2018 and initially aimed for a much higher price, according to two people who were aware of it. sale.

The property, which attracted the interest of buyers from China and the Middle East and Ambania, was expected to fetch “more than £ 100 million” from people.

Before opening as a luxury country club in 1908, Stoke Park was a private residence. Roarie Scarisbrick, a partner at property buyer agency Vision, said a potential buyer thought about turning the 49-room hotel into a home, but said it was “because they didn’t want to have a good reputation” for closing the golf club and firing staff.

When announcing the deal, Reliance said Stoke Park would continue to be a member club and “seek to improve the sports and leisure facilities at this heritage site, fully comply with planning guidelines and local regulations.”

Ambanik sees the property as a good value, said a person close to the tycoon. “There will be funding input,” they said.

The person added that being close to Heathrow could make Stoke Park a good corporate retreat for senior Reliance executives.

Stoke Park’s 27-hole golf course is known for being the setting for “the most famous golf scene in cinema,” according to the real estate website, Sean Connery’s James Bond plays the villain Auric Goldfinger in the 1964 film.

A weekend shift in the course costs £ 225.

According to Bloomberg data, Amban has a fortune of $ 71.5 billion, making him the richest man in Asia. After his father’s death in 2002, he inherited Reliance, India’s largest company.

Acquisition of historic property underscores Ambani’s effort to transform Reliance into an industrial group focused on refining oil to become a global consumer-facing business.

He has also tried to promote world-renowned brands, in particular 2019 purchase the British toy retailer Hamleys for 68 million euros.

According to Ambani, Reliance has diversified into retail as a partner in India for brands like Marks and Spencer Tiffany, as well as digital services with the launch of telecommunications operator Jio in 2016. Jio raised $ 20 billion last year among the world’s top investors, including Facebook and Google.

However, energy continues to boost the group’s revenue.

In the hospitality industry, Reliance already has a stake in Oberoi Hotels, one of India’s leading luxury chains, and said it was building a convention center and hotel complex in Mumbai’s Bandra Kurla Complex, an elegant business district in the financial capital.

Chester King Stoke Park general manager said owning the estate was a “great honor” for his family, “he was pleased that the new owners have the same respect for the club’s vast heritage”.

“It was clear that this represents the business as it usually does for our members, customers and the local community.”