A family firm behind an exclusive chain of British hotels has submitted a £160 million bid to buy Gleneagles.
The world famous venue, which hosted last year’s Ryder Cup, went on the market in January.
Drinks giant Diageo, which has owned the establishment since 1984, said it hoped to make more than £200 million from the sale of the 232-bedroom hotel and its 850-acre estate, although a price tag has not been made public.
Now the Ralph Trustees, which runs the prestigious Athenaeum Hotel in London, has tabled a bid to take over the hotel.
It is understood the company, controlled by brothers Daniel and Stuart Levy, is hoping to strike a deal before rival suitors KSL Capital Partners, an American private equity firm that owns the former Ryder Cup venue the Belfry, near Birmingham.
The Colorado-based company reportedly submitted an offer of £150m.
Both Diageo and Ralph Trustees remained tight-lipped about the bid last night.
As well as the five-star Athenaeum, the Levy brothers also own the Runnymede-on-Thames Hotel in Surrey, 23 Greengarden House, an apartment property in London, and the Grove, an 18th-Century mansion in Watford which was once the seat of the Earl of Clarendon and a training centre for British Rail.
They bought the 300-acre Grove estate in 1996 and in 2003 opened it as a five-star hotel and golf resort.
It is understood they have also been looking at Cameron House, a resort on Loch Lomond, which is on the market with an estimated £80m price tag.
Diageo, which makes Johnnie Walker whisky and Smirnoff vodka among others, put Gleneagles quietly on the market after the success of the Ryder Cup last September.
A spokesman said previously: “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 hotel opened in 1934, based on a concept by Caledonian Railway boss Donald Matheson.
He came up with the idea for a palace-style hotel surrounded by golf courses set in the rolling Perthshire hills.
The hotel is served by the nearby train station, which was upgraded for last year’s golf extravaganza.