Payday for Reuben Brothers after Selling Out of Belmond

Evening Standard – 16th January 2019

The billionaire Reuben brothers are celebrating a $300 million (£233 million) payday after selling out of luxury hotels group Belmond, it emerged on Wednesday.

Simon and David Reuben have disposed of their stake in the New York-listed operator of the famous Venice Simplon-Orient-Express train. Belmond also owns or manages 46 properties.

The pair, who have long owned London properties, pubs and racecourses, first invested in Belmond in 2007. They were the largest shareholder as at the third quarter of 2018, with around 12.5 million shares.

The exit comes around a month after luxury goods giant LVMH was announced as the surprise winner of the auction to buy Belmond, agreeing a $3.2 billion swoop. LVMH has acquired the Reuben shares.

However, the sale doesn’t mark the brothers’ departure from the hotels market. In London they are building a new Soho hotel, and last year they stumped up a £270 million loan in a refinancing of the Savoy Hotel on The Strand.