Far East firms buy 96% stake in Neville & Giggs £200m scheme


Singaporean group, Rowsley has acquired a 75% stake in a Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs' £200m Manchester mixed-use scheme and also in Hotel Football.

Joining Rowsley, Beijing Construction Engineering Group is taking a 21% stake.

Located on a 1.43-acre site, the scheme includes a five-star hotel, luxury apartments, offices, restaurants and bars, and two brand new public squares.

Rowsley, which is backed by Singaporean billionaire and Salford City backer Peter Lim, is to pay approximately £40m to buy its stake in the newly formed St Michael Investments Pte Ltd, a company set up to develop the hotel, office, residential and retail project in the heart of Manchester city centre.

Beijing Construction Engineering Group (BCEG) will own 21% of St Michael Investments while Neville and Giggs will own 2% each respectively.

Rowsley will pay £29.1m for a 75% shareholding in each of the three companies holding the assets of Hotel Football, the 133-room boutique hotel located across the Old Trafford stadium, Café Football, a 120-seat London restaurant, and GG Collections, a hotel management company that manages Hotel Football and Café Football.

The stakes will come from Peter Lim, the controlling shareholder of Rowsley, and former Utd stars, Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs, and their 'Class of 92' cohorts, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and Philip Neville.

Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs are pictured with GG Hospitality's managing director, Stuart Procter.