Plaza hotel to be sold for $675m

Millennium & Copthorne Hotels Plc, owner of the Biltmore in Los Angeles, and Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, the world’s fourth-richest man, agreed to sell the unprofitable Plaza on New York’s Fifth Avenue for $675 million.

Millennium and Alwaleed, who’s worth $21.5 billion according to Forbes magazine, will sell the Plaza and a nearby property to an affiliate of US. real-estate developer El Ad Properties NY, Millennium’s public-relations firm said. The sale price is 42% higher than the Plaza’s book value.