The secretive billionaire Livingstone brothers are poised to add Cliveden, the stately home made famous by the Profumo scandal, to their £5bn property portfolio.
The brothers have been selected as preferred bidders to buy the grade I-listed stately home from the administrators of the collapsed Von Essen Hotels chain in a £57.5m deal.
Richard Livingstone, a chartered surveyor, and his brother Ian, a former optometrist, are understood to be planning to buy both Cliveden and Royal Crescent Hotel in Bath to run the hotels in a trio with their Chewton Glen Hotel, a five star mansion in the New Forest favoured by celebrities. The two potential new additions to the brothers' London & Regional property company have been valued by Christie + Co, which is handling the sale for administrators Ernst & Young, at £57.5m.
Cliveden hit the headlines in the 1960s when it was revealed that John Profumo, the secretary of state for war, began a relationship with Christine Keeler, a showgirl who was also entwined with a Soviet spy. The pair first met at a pool party at Cliveden in the summer of 1961, when the Berkshire mansion was owned by Lord Astor.
The freehold of the 41-bedroom mansion is now owned by the National Trust, but the hotel is run by Von Essen, which collapsed in April owing Lloyds and Barclays almost £300m.
Cliveden is the jewel in the crown of the 27-hotel Von Essen estate, which has been valued at £203.25m. Other luxury hotels include the 19-bedroom Amberley Castle, in Arundel, West Sussex, which is worth £13.5m, and the five-star, 20-bedroom Seaham Hall in County Durham, which has a £12.5m price tag.
Andrew Brownsword, the greeting card magnate, former owner of Bath Rugby Club and the nation's 337th richest man according to the Sunday Times rich list, has been selected as preferred bidder for Von Essen's Lower Slaughter Manor, a grade II-listed country house hotel in the Cotswolds, thought to be worth around £8m.
Ernst & Young declined to comment. London & Regional did not respond to requests to comment.