What do Annabel’s, Sexy Fish, Delilah and the Bird Streets Club have in common — besides serving as Leonardo DiCaprio’s natural habitat? They’re all now controlled by investment interests tied to Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Abu Dhabi royal who has been snapping up trophy properties across L.A. — and whose acquisition spree recently sparked rumors up and down the strip that the Sunset Tower Hotel and Jeff Klein’s San Vicente clubs might be next.
The buying began here in September, when DIAFA, an Abu Dhabi hospitality company affiliated with Tahnoon’s sprawling IHC investment empire, acquired a majority stake in John Terzian and Brian Toll’s h.wood Group, whose holdings include Delilah, the Bird Streets Club and The Nice Guy. Then, in April, DIAFA acquired a majority stake in British restaurateur Richard Caring’s hospitality empire, which includes Annabel’s, Sexy Fish, Scott’s and The Ivy.
Tahnoon isn’t merely some fabulously rich dude who woke up one morning with a taste for bottle service. In addition to assembling a sizable collection of the world’s most celebrity-clogged watering holes, he happens to be the UAE president’s brother, the country’s national security adviser and deputy ruler of Abu Dhabi. His investment universe extends well beyond IHC: He also chairs the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and AI giant G42.
But the sheikh must really love a red velvet rope because apparently his nightlife shopping spree isn’t over. According to a source familiar with the discussions, DIAFA recently approached Klein about buying the Sunset Tower and his San Vicente clubs for the princely sum of $700 million.
How rich was that offer? When the Sunset Tower was on the market in 2017, it was valued at $90 million — considered stratospheric at the time, more than $1 million a room. San Vicente has since grown into a valuable empire of its own, with clubs in Santa Monica and New York in addition to the original West Hollywood location. Still, $700 million would have represented an astonishing payday.
But Klein turned it down. A source close to him said that while the money was tempting, he feared folding the Sunset Tower and San Vicente into a sprawling hospitality conglomerate would eventually dilute the exclusivity he had spent years cultivating. Klein himself declined to comment on the offer. But for now, at least, a couple of velvet ropes remain beyond the sheikh’s reach.
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This story appeared in the Sept. 9 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.