Sonu Shivdasani

Sonu Shivdasani OBE (born 1965) is a British hotelier. He is the founder and CEO of the Soneva resort chain which operates luxury resorts in the Maldives and Thailand. He is also the founder and former CEO of Six Senses Resorts & Spas, which had locations throughout South East Asia and Europe, and was sold in 2012.

Sonu Shivdasani OBE
Sonu and Eva Shivdasani by Antonina Gern
Born	1965 (age 58–59) England
Occupation(s)	Founder and CEO of Soneva
Known for	Eco-friendly resorts in Maldives and Thailand

Early life and education

Sonu was born in England. He is the youngest son of Lakshmi and Indoo Shivdasani (1918-1979), an Indian businessman who made his fortune trading in Nigeria, with his offices based in London and Geneva.^[1] His parents originated from Sindh, his father immigrating to England long before the Partition of India.^[2] His grandfather was an Indian Civil Service officer during the British Raj. His father studied at Clare College, Cambridge and built a business in finance, trade and agro-allied industries in West Africa, India and Europe.^[3] His father died in 1979, when he was 13, leaving his older brother Azad to look after the family business.

He studied at Eton College in England and Institut Le Rosey in Switzerland. He graduated from Oxford University with an MA in English Literature in 1988.^[1][4][5]

His older sister Bina Shivdasani, Countess Sella di Monteluce (1949–2006), was a philanthropist in women's education and was the first High Sheriff of Greater London of Asian origin in 2002.^[6][7]

Career

After graduating from Oxford, Sonu started working with his older brother Azad Shivdasani to manage their family businesses.^[1] After having worked together for two years he founded Six Senses BVI.

In 1995, Sonu and his wife Eva, who took on the role of creative director, opened Soneva Fushi resort on the Kunahandhoo island in the Maldives. They also started the Evason group of hotels and the Six Senses Resorts & Spas, with properties opening across South East Asia and Europe. In 2009 they opened Soneva Kiri on Ko Kut island in Thailand. By 2011, Six Senses expanded into an international luxury spa and resort chain with 26 resorts and 41 spas.^[8] In 2012, Sonu sold Six Senses to Pegasus Capital and shifted to focus on Soneva's resorts and private residences as part of the "One Owner, One Operator, One Philosophy, One Brand".^[9][10]

Sonu is one of the founders of the Soneva Foundation (previously known as the SLOWLIFE Foundation), a UK-registered charity. In 2023, Sonu was honoured as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to tourism, sustainability and charity in the King’s New Year Honours 2023 Overseas and International List.^[11]

Lawsuits & Allegations

Collaboration with the now imprisoned former Maldives’ Minister of Tourism, Ahmed Adeeb

In 2018 Sonashah Shivdasani and his Soneva Jani Resort in the Maldives were highlighted in an OCCRP (Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project) report as partners to the former Minister of Tourism in the Maldives, Ahmed Adeeb, who is currently imprisoned for corruption. Soneva is a privately held company of Sonu Shivdasani and his wife Eva Malmstrom Shivdasani. Records show that the Shivdasanis obtained the Maldives island of Medhufaru and its surroundings, now the location of their Soneva Jani resort, via a no-bid contract in 2014. The Shivdasanis were from one of many companies that unlawfully benefited from Adeeb’s activities, all which were headed by politically-connected members of the elite. Ahmed Adeeb, the now imprisoned former tourism minister of the Maldives, leased out over 50 islands and lagoons for tourism development without the public tenders the law of the Maldives normally requires. Tens of millions of dollars worth of these lease fees were then embezzled by Adeeb and his accomplices.^[12]

Lawsuit regarding fire at the Soneva Kiri Resort due to inadequate fire safety

The Soneva Kiri Resort, a privately held company of Sonu Shivdasani and his wife Eva Malmstrom Shivdasani, was not constructed in line with the legal safety standards required, and has been under investigation by the Department of Special Investigation by the Natural Resources and Environment Division in Thailand. The consequences of the resort’s inadequate safety standards were made manifest in March 2022. A massive fire broke out at the Soneva Kiri Resort on Koh Kut island and gutted one of the site’s villas. Charges have been brought against three executives of the resort, including Sonashah Shivdasani. The claims include causing a fire by negligence, causing damages to people’s property, endangering other persons, and allowing others to use the building for hotel business without obtaining a license from the local officials. In a press article (The Nation, 2 July 2022), RTP’s Assistant Commissioner General Sompong Chingduang was quoted as saying: “Investigation revealed that the resort’s Villa 63, where the fire started, had never been inspected for fire safety and that the company had been renting it out to guests without notifying the registrar as required by the Hotel Act of 2004.” . According to press reports Sonu Shivadsani is a fugitive and has refused to appear to face charges. ^[13][14][15]

Scandal alleging that Sonu Shivdasani ran a scheme to fraudulently induce victims to purchase properties at the Soneva Kiri Resort

In March 2021, a case (KSL Capital Partners, case number 1:21-mc-00064, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado) was brought by a Swiss businessman who petitioned under Section 1782 of the U.S. Code — which allows federal courts to order entities in their districts to turn over evidence to be used in certain foreign proceedings - for the court to obtain information from a private equity firm in order to pursue foreign proceedings against Sonu Shivdasani his company Bluebay Resorts (BVI) Ltd.

The Swiss businessman Jean Sebastian Ferrer Funke and his company Ecoprivate Business Ltd. alleged that Sonu Shivdasani deceived them into investing in a $6.2 million villa in Thailand and thus filed an ex parte petition for a federal court order to obtain evidence from KSL Capital Partners, a Denver-based private equity firm specializing in travel and leisure enterprises, which participated in a $230 million investment in Sonashah Shivdasani’s Soneva Kiri Resort. Ferrer petitioned for an order under Section 1782 of the U.S. Code — which allows federal courts to order entities in their districts to turn over evidence to be used in certain foreign proceedings — directing KSL Capital Partners to produce documents as the applicants pursue litigation and arbitration against Shivdasani and his company Bluebay Resorts (BVI) Ltd. According to the petition, Ferrer is one of several victims of the alleged Soneva Kiri Resort scheme.

Shivdasani is accused of running a scheme that used Bluebay as a vehicle to fraudulently induce Ferrer and Ecoprivate to purchase a Thai villa and surrounding land at the Soneva Kiri Resort for $6.2 million. However, Shivdasani failed to deliver the property to them, resulting in Ferrer and Ecoprivate requesting access to KSL's documents for use in a contemplated criminal complaint against Shivdasani in Switzerland for fraud and criminal mismanagement, and for Ecoprivate to commence an arbitration proceeding against Bluebay. In a subsequent U.S. discovery action, on 28 July 2023, Ecoprivate Business Ltd. and Jean Sebastian Ferrer Funke (‘Applicants’) were again granted their application in obtaining an order, under 28 U.S.C. § 1782, to serve subpoenas on The Clearing House Payments Company L.L.C., the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Barclays Bank PLC, and HSBC Bank USA, N.A. The Applicants contended that the records they seek are relevant to two foreign proceedings: a contemplated criminal proceeding in Switzerland and a contemplated action to enforce an arbitral award in the United Kingdom^[16][17][18]

Personal life

He first met Eva Malmstrom, a Swedish model.^[19] They were introduced through his sister, the Countess Bina Sella di Monteluce, at the Monaco Grand Prixin 1986. They later married.^[1] and spent their honeymoon traveling around some of the world’s most exclusive hotels and resorts, inspiring them to open their own. They leased a resort in the Maldives and set about creating their dream and a few years later opened Soneva Fushi.^[20] Eva became a designer and went on to become Soneva's Creative Director and Conscience, designing interiors at their resorts in the Maldives and Thailand.^[21]

Sonu was diagnosed with cancer in 2017.^[22]

He was honored as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire by King Charles III for his contributions to "tourism, sustainability and charity" in the 2023 New Year Honours.^[23]

References

1. Vir Sanghvi (27 March 2010). . Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 24 August 2013. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
2. "The luxury king: Sonu Shivdasani's Six Senses resorts are playgrounds for the super-rich". The Telegraph. India. 10 January 2010. Archived from the original on 30 June 2013. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
3. "Poets of hope". Business Standard. 24 September 2011. Retrieved 25 April 2012.
4. "Executive Profile: Sonu Shivdasani". Business Week. Archived from the original on 28 June 2013. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
5. "'Life's easy if you enjoy what you are doing'". The Times of India. 17 February 2002. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
6. Kovaleski, Serge F. (11 August 1993). "FOR ONE WOMAN, CHILDREN'S ISLAND IS NO FANTASY". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
7. April 18, 2006, January 13, 1949- (18 January 2024). "Bina Shivdasani, Countess Sella di Monteluce". ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 18 January 2024.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
8. "Six Senses to redefine luxury for Indian consumers: Shivdasani". The Economic Times. 18 March 2011. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
9. . Soneva website. Archived from the original on 13 June 2013. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
10. "Q & A SONU SHIVDASANI, Chairman & CEO Soneva Group". Luxury Travel Bible. 19 June 2012.
11. "Soneva founder, CEO Sonu Shivdasani awarded OBE in King's New Year Honours 2023 list". The Economic Times. 4 January 2023. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
12. https://www.occrp.org/en/paradiseleased/meet-the-businessmen-and-global-brands-that-got-the-islands
13. https://www.bangkokpost.com/learning/really-easy/2275791/fire-destroys-luxury-resort
14. https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40017239
15. https://thethaiger.com/news/eastern-thailand/police-tracking-down-british-nationals-in-eastern-thailand-after-villa-fire-in-march
16. https://www.law360.com/articles/1367455/colo-pe-firm-targeted-for-info-in-fight-over-thai-villa
17. https://casetext.com/case/ecoprivate-bus-v-the-clearing-house-payments-co
18. https://www.offshorealert.com/ecoprivate-business-ltd-et-al-v-ksl-capital-partners-discovery-application/
19. Portee, Allyson. "From A Cover Model To A Fashion Designer, Eva Malmström Shivdasani Opens Up About Her Creative Journey To Her Maldivian Paradise". Forbes. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
20. "Vir Sanghvi". virsanghvi.com. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
21. . Harper's Bazaar. 16 November 2010. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
22. "Guest Column by Sonu Shivdasani: A mind, body & soul approach". Hindustan Times. 8 April 2022. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
23. "King Charles III Honors Hospitality Pioneer, Soneva Founder Sonu Shivdasani - 85194". www.luxurytravelmagazine.com. Retrieved 18 January 2024.

External links

• Soneva website
• "Cover Story: Sonu Shivdasani: Creating Ownership". Business Today. November 2011.