The Belfry hotel and golf resort is being targeted by a US private equity firm which specialises in travel and leisure – after more than six months on the market.

Colorado and New York-based KSL Capital Partners are said to be in discussions to buy the North Warwickshire complex, four times home of the Ryder Cup.

The private equity group is thought to be negotiating over a £70 million purchase of the 550-acre resort, and talks are understood to be at an advanced stage.

The Belfry has made no official comment on the negotiations.

General manager Nigel Gray could not be contacted and a spokeswoman said: “The Belfry is up for sale and everything else is sheer speculation.”

The Birmingham Post revealed before Christmas that the Belfry was being put up for sale despite a reported £105 million debt pile and commercial property agent Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels had been appointed to market the complex.

The sale was announced in the aftermath of a financial crisis engulfing the complex’s Irish owners, the Quinn Group.

The Quinns bought the business in February 2005 but financial turmoil hit the group last year, forcing the Belfry into the hands of Anglo-Irish Bank and US insurance firm Liberty Mutual.

Sean Quinn, who led the Quinn Group, had seen his multi-billion euro empire collapse over a two-year period after massive stock market gambles on the share price of the Anglo-Irish Bank failed.

Dubbed the Mighty Quinn at the height of his success when he was worth £3.7 billion, he lost control of his business over a year ago and voluntarily filed for bankruptcy in Belfast last November.