Niel Buys Paris Home for Over $226 Million From Qatar Prince (1)

The Hotel Lambert, a property owned by Prince Abdullah bin Khalifa al-Thani, has been bought by French billionaire Xavier Niel for over 200 million euros ($226 million), according to a person familiar with the matter.

The transaction is one of the largest ever deals for a private property in Paris, beating the 100 million euros paid for the Hotel de Soyecourt in 2011.

The Hotel Lambert townhouse on Saint-Louis island in Paris.

Photographer: Nathan Laine/Bloomberg

Niel, the founder of telecom group Iliad SA, is not planning to live in the 43,000 square-foot townhouse, and is instead considering using the property for a cultural foundation, the person said, who asked ...