I have nothing good to say about Peter Swann, and he could have easily avoided all this trouble. But the reality is that he chose Hilton because he promised to pay £3.5m for the ground and land.
Hilton tried for months to get the money via loans and investments, but he failed miserably due to his dodgy track record and lack of collateral. He tried to offer lenders parts of the land and lots of interest, but they were the people he’d already ripped off, so it was a no go.
I’m sure Swann is being his usual difficult self, but Hilton failed to get the money stipulated in the contract and tried to negotiate way down. It’s easy to blame Swann, because everybody (rightly) hates him, but here, as in many other deals, Hilton is making up new details to cover up his failure to deliver.
