The Qatar National Hotels Company (QNH) has taken over Singapore icon Raffles Hotel, reported The Straits Times. The hotel was reported to have been sold for US$275 million (S$356 million) in 2010 to a Qatari sovereign wealth fund, the report said.
QNH, a government-owned company, is the largest hotel owner and operator in Qatar. It also now owns Le Royal Monceau Raffles Paris, the European flagship of Raffles Hotels & Resorts, the report said. The additions represented "consistent steps of QNH's strategic expansion at the international level," QNH chief executive Hamad Abdulla Al-Mulla said in a statement. Located at Beach Road, the historic Raffles Hotel has 103 rooms and was built in 1887. It has since gained worldwide fame.