UPDATED: Faqra Club to be
sold to Rahmeh Brothers

$38 million deal includes land and

management company and includes debt

Teddy and Raymond Rahmeh, owners of ZR Group Holding, will acquire Faqra Club Holding (FCH), which owns Faqra Club as property as well as Societe Libanaise Des Projets Touristiques (Solipro), the management company of Faqra Club.

The deal is estimated at $37.8 million, and includes a total of 150,000 square meters (m2) of land plots, not all of which can be developed. The company also carries some $20 million of debt on its books, which will be transferred in the deal, yielding an estimated land valuation of $250/m2 according to a real estate professional.

The two parties have reached an initial agreement.

“The acquisition deal requires a few more days to close,” said FCH Chairman Elie Nahas, who is also Group Head of Real Estate at Bank Audi. The law firm Abousleiman & Partners is handling the legal aspects of the deal.

Solipro was founded in 1974. The company handles all key areas of the club’s operations.

Raymond Audi, the bank’s long time chairman, now in an honorary capacity, is a main founder of FCH.

Faqra Club extends over 2.4 million m2. It includes ski slopes, horseback riding facilities, basketball courts, several restaurants, a wedding venue, as well as boutique hotel L’Auberge de Faqra.

ZR Group Holding includes companies that have several activities including real estate, banking (minority stake in Bank Byblos), food catering, and oil and gas imports.

Neither of the two parties confirmed or denied the information from sources privy to the deal.

UPDATED INFORMATION

This story previously indicated the deal at $18 million. It has been updated to reflect the size of the deal ($37.8 million) and the approximate $20 million of carried debt. This means that the net value is $18 million. The estimated land size and value has also been added.