Scottish Tory party donor and philanthropist Lord Laidlaw of Rothiemay has sold his Bermuda-based conferences business The Institute of International Research for $1.4 billion.

He previously revealed his intention to sell IIR ? the world?s biggest conferences and training company ? and donate up to ? 20 million a year to good causes.

Lord Laidlaw, a Monaco-based tax exile, started IIR in 1973.

The company owns a number of high-profile conferences in the financial and life sciences industries.

Buyer T&F Informa, IIR?s biggest rival in the conference organising market, will pay cash for IIR, funded partly by debt and partly by a ?311m issue of shares.

The Independent reports that the deal makes Lord Laidlaw, 62, the richest Scottish-born entrepreneur, edging ahead of the retail mogul Tom Hunter.

Lord Laidlaw is already one of the Conservative Party?s biggest donors, having given nearly ? 3.5m in recent years and has emerged as one of Scotland?s most generous sources of charitable aid, in particular to schools.

T&F Informa said it expected to make savings as a result of the deal worth ?8m in 2006 and ?11m in 2007 mainly from property, IT systems, procurement and reduced central overheads.

The deal is expected to strengthen the UK group?s presence in a number of industry areas and boost its presence in territories such as Russia and Australia, while taking it into new markets such as South Africa and Eastern Europe.