Former minister of defence, Rtd Gen. Theophilus Danjuma has acquired a
300-year-old hotel in London for N1 billion.
TY Danjuma, as he is popularly referred to, is now worth $1.2 billion
according to report on Billionaires Index.
The latest acquisition of the 80-year-old retired army general is a
14-room inn in London.
The Kings Arms Hotel is a 300-year-old inn next to Hampton Court
Palace, which once housed Henry VIII, the king of England in 1509.
At present, the hotel is undergoing renovation. Upon launch, a room is
estimated to cost £250 per night.
The second daughter of the billionaire, Hannatu Gentles, stated that
the family does not invest in trophy assets.
“We never tend to look at trophy assets. We’re not going to head to
Mayfair to buy a 15 million-pound apartment primarily because we are a
yield business,” Gentles, who is the chief operating officer of her
father’s London-based family business, told newsmen.
“We invest in real estate in other jurisdictions, but in the UK, we
always thought let’s stick to areas that we know.”
Asides the £2.4 million (1,096,662,240) hotel, the family has invested
in more than 30 properties across three continents.
In 1998, Danjuma was awarded an oil block by Sani Abacha, now deceased
head of state.
He left the military in 1979 to start his oil and shipping firm.
