Von Essen Hotels, the private company that owns Cliveden, the Berkshire stately home at the centre of the Profumo affair, will today announce the acquisition of London Heliport in Battersea in a near £50 million deal, The Times has learnt.

Weston Group, the property developer that acquired the heliport at the end of 2003 from Mohamed Al Fayed, the owner of Harrods, is selling Von Essen the freehold of the heliport and terminal building together with a development site for a seven-storey boutique hotel with 70 rooms.

The estimated £50 million deal also includes part of a proposed office development on the Thames-side site, where Von Essen will move its corporate headquarters. Through a separate company, Andrew Davis, the Von Essen founder and chairman, is acquiring another property on the site, Heliport House.

The deal gives Von Essen control of the only commercial heliport in the capital licensed by the Civil Aviation Authority. It handles about 1,000 flight movements a month and has been used by personalities including Tiger Woods, Jackie Onassis, Steve McQueen, Roman Abramovich and Ken Livingstone.

When Weston Group acquired the heliport it already owned the Bridges Wharf site next door. Its transformation of the site also includes upgraded reception, VIP and control room facilities as well as affordable housing for rental and shared ownership and 252 apartments.

The new hotel, which Weston will build, will have a subterranean spa and a rooftop restaurant to be operated by a top chef. Mr Davis is understood to have approached both Marco Pierre White and Gordon Ramsay about a deal to run the 200-seat restaurant.

Von Essen will also announce today that it has signed an agreement to hand the running of the heliport to PremiAir, part of the Sir Robert McAlpine Group. PremiAir already operates Von Essen’s fleet of luxury helicopters and jets under a joint venture arrangement.

The London heliport deal follows hard on the heels of the £17 million purchase of the Château de Bagnols near Lyons from Lady Hamlyn, the group’s first foray outside the UK. Mr Davis is also believed to be in talks over a possible acquisition in Monaco.

The proposed Battersea deal will form the launchpad for a move into city centre properties, dubbed the Von Essen Metropolitan Set. The colouful multimillionaire has long harboured hopes of buying The Lanesborough on Hyde Park Corner and is understood to have held talks about buying Firmdale Hotels, a chain of seven boutique hotels in the capital, including the Pelham and Soho hotels.

From Lyon to the Lakes

Von Essen Hotels owns 23 luxury hotels, 15 helicopters and three jets. Hotels include:

- Château de Bagnols, near Lyon, France

- Cliveden, Berkshire

- Royal Crescent, Bath

- The Ickworth, Suffolk

- Bishopstrow House, Wiltshire

- Dalhousie Castle, near Edinburgh

- Thornbury Castle, near Bristol

- Sharrow Bay, Lake District

- Mount Somerset, Taunton

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