Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries buys Britain’s Stoke Park estate for US$79 million
- The latest marquee acquisition for Ambani’s retail-to-refining conglomerate marks its pivot toward consumer offerings
- The property’s 49 luxury bedrooms and suites, 27-hole championship golf course and 13 tennis courts attract wealthy tourists from across the world
A wholly owned unit of Reliance Industries will buy Stoke Park, which owns and manages a hotel, sports and leisure facilities in Buckinghamshire, for 57 million pounds (US$79 million), said an exchange filing late on Thursday.
The acquisition will add to Reliance’s consumer and hospitality assets, the filing said.
The property’s rolling golf course has been famous since James Bond played a game with Auric Goldfinger there in the 1964 blockbuster.
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Since then, the estate with the Georgian-era mansion set in the midst of 300 acres of parkland has also been a backdrop in productions like Bridget Jones’s Diary and Netflix’s British royal family drama The Crown.
In real life, its 49 luxury bedrooms and suites, 27-hole championship golf course, 13 tennis courts and 14 acres of private gardens attract wealthy tourists from across the world.
Flush with US$27 billion in fresh capital after selling stakes in Reliance’s retail and digital units last year, Ambani is helming a transformation as he seeks to build consumer services into a equal-sized pillar for Reliance Industries, paring dependence on profits from its traditional oil refining business. Acquiring marquee global brands underscores that strategy.
Although the Stoke Park estate has a recorded history of over 900 years, it was used as a private residence until 1908, according to its official website.
Ambani has a net worth of US$71.5 billion, making him the 13th richest person in the world, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
The group “will look to enhance the sports and leisure facilities at this heritage site,” Reliance said in the filing. Ambani’s conglomerate has equity holding in EIH Ltd., which runs the chain of five star Oberoi Hotels.
