The NRI businessman M.A. Yusuff Ali is learnt to be in advanced negotiations to acquire Great Scotland Yard, the famed previous headquarters of London’s Metropolitan Police.
Yusuff Ali’s Abu Dhabi-based Lulu Group, which owns a large chain of hypermarkets as also Kochi’s Lulu Mall, has reportedly offered more than 100 million pounds for the heritage building, which is currently being turned into a 235-room super luxury hotel.
Great Scotland Yard used to be the headquarters of London’s police during 1829-1890. The seven-storey building is currently owned by the Galliard Group. Lulu Group is the front-runner for the purchase of the property.
Yusuff Ali, one of the wealthiest Indians in the Gulf, who hails from Kerala’s Thrissur district, also owns a 10 per cent stake in UK’s East India Company, former colonialists of India.
Yusuff Ali has equity stakes in three Kerala-based private banks as well as several enterprises in Kerala and other States. Kochi’s Lulu Mall is one of the largest malls in the country. Recently, the Group opened a Grand Hyatt hotel close to the mall.
Yusuff Ali is a Padmashree awardee and winner of the Pravasi Samman instituted by the Central Government to honour exceptional NRIs.