Indian-origin British hotelier sued by parents

London, Feb 23, 2012:

Parents of a 60-year-old Indian-origin hotelier, reportedly one of Britain's wealthiest men, are sueing him for 100 million pounds (around $157 million), claiming their son took the family business for himself.Jasminder Singh, chairman of the Radisson Edwardian Hotels, is accused of renouncing the Sikh tradition of sharing family wealth and barring his parents from their multi-million pound business, the Daily Express reported.

His 84-year-old father, Bal Mohinder Singh, stands to take a third of the family fortune if he wins the high court battle against his son.

The family fortune is reportedly worth an estimated 415 million pounds.

In a statement to the court in London Tuesday, Bal Mohinder Singh said he and his wife Satwant were "deeply ashamed that Jasminder should publicly renounce his cultural heritage".

The system of joint family ownership of all assets is based on religious teaching and widely practiced by Sikh and Hindu communities around the world, he said.

"For Jasminder to deny that and claim all the credit and ownership for himself will be shocking to wide sections of those communities. That is why his mother and I are so ashamed."

The hotelier's name was on the family's assets purely because he was a chartered accountant and the Singhs' representative, the court heard.

Singh also accused his son of trying to force his parents out of the 10-million-pound house they share near Ascot racecourse in Berkshire.

Jasminder Singh denies ever having been told by his parents they were a "joint Hindu family" and that property acquired by any of them was "joint family property".

He also denied having a particularly religious upbringing.......IANS/NRIpress.com
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NRI, Jasminder Singh, one of Britain's richest Asian businessmen, has bought the prestigious Inter Continental May Fair London hotel at a cost of £115 million

In 1979, he formed the Edwardian Group which now consists of about a dozen luxury hotels and is one of the largest privately owned hotel groups in the UK.

• He was born in 1951 at Dar-salaam. He arrived in England in 1968 from Tanzania and qualified in accountancy with Hacker and Young.
• He is also a non executive director of HSBC bank PLC.
• He sponsors the Hotel Management School in India and also supports the charity Care International.
• His wealth has been estimated at £320 million, placing him as high as number three on the Asian rich list.
• At present, he lives in Ascot. His wife, Arnrit (Director) is a qualified interior designer and actively involved in the refurbishment of the hotels.

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London, Aug. 23:

"It's the deal of the century," enthused his close friend and fellow hotelier, Joginder Sangar, who owns the nearby Washington, favourite haunt for tea and snacks of Shah Rukh Khan and other Bollywood stars.

With the Intercontinental Mayfair also in Indian hands, Bollywood stars and other Indian celebrities will have another watering hole in one of the prized real estates in the world.

Singh, the chairman and chief executive of the Radisson Edwardian group, is one of the richest Asians in Britain. His wealth has been estimated at £320 million, placing him as high as number three on the Asian rich list.

The 289-room Intercontinental Mayfair has been sold to Radisson Edwardian Hotels because the seller wants to run down its debts.

A spokesman for the Intercontinental group, which owns, manages, leases or franchises 3,300 hotels in nearly 100 countries, said: "The deal amounts to almost £400,000 per room and the proceeds of the sale will be used to pay down debt."

The chief executive of the Intercontinental group, Richard North, explained: "We have clearly expressed our strategy of driving enhanced returns through reducing capital intensity. We are therefore in the process of selling hotels that we do not need to own, providing we can achieve fair value. The sale of the Intercontinental Mayfair meets both these tests."

Singh kept in close touch with Sangar throughout the negotiation period.

"Intercontinental Hotels didn't have the patience after two other deals fell through," said Sangar. "After signing the contract with lawyers, Jasminder rang me from his car and said 'you are the first person I am ringing'. I said 'congratulations'."

Asked whether purchase of the Intercontinental Mayfair made Singh a big player, Sangar replied: "He is already a big player. He started Edwardian Hotels in Britain — they have several hotels in this country. There is one near Heathrow. He took the franchise for the M25 (motorway) area from the American Radisson group under a GDS (Global Distribution System). The price paid makes this a very good deal."

Sangar revealed that when he was negotiating to buy the Washington, "I kept asking Jasminder for advice. He said 'buy it, you can't go wrong'."

Singh was born in Dar-es-Salaam in 1951, educated in East Africa, came to Britain in 1968 and qualified in accountancy. He entered the hotel business in 1979 when he formed the Edwardian group, now one of the most successful privately owned groups in the country with 10 hotels.

He sponsors the hotel management school in India and is a strong backer of Care International, the charity organisation. He lives in Ascot with his interior designer wife Amrit and four children. As Singh will soon discover, if he hasn't already, having Bollywood stars to stay is not an unmixed blessing. Not only do they have their fads but expect suites for the price of a single room.