Sark firm sets out bid to raise £35m. to buy Barclay properties
A COMPANY set up by the Seigneur of Sark and a German entrepreneur, which is attempting to buy the Barclays’ extensive property portfolio in the island, has formally written to investors with the aim of raising an initial £35m.
And Swen Lorenz, who went into partnership with Seigneur Christopher Beaumont to form the Sark Property Company last year, has claimed that he took the first steps with a member of the Barclay family, who he has not named, towards a potential sale of their properties back in 2022.
He said that he wanted Sark to continue to work with Brecqhou in the future.
The formal letter and brochure now sent to potential financial backers, which the Guernsey Press has seen, sets out the Sark Property Company’s plan to acquire the Barclays’ Sark estate, which in total covers about one-fifth of the island.
It could also see the purchase another fifth of Sark which is currently owned by others.
The letter asks prospective investors for a minimum investment of £100,000 and suggests they could see ‘an initial 100% uplift after three to four years’.
It is also made clear that their funds would be transferred to the Sark Property Company only if the company’s bid for the Barclays’ property is accepted.
‘Based on prior discussions, we are confident that we can come to an agreement during the month of August,’ said Mr Lorenz.
‘In such a case, the funds will be due by early September.’
The company is expecting investment to come primarily from Britain, western Europe and the US.
The investment memorandum states that property prices in Sark are currently only 30 to 50% of those in Guernsey but that there was no reason why they should not eventually be valued at the same level, earning anyone investing now a substantial profit if they were to sell in the future.
‘This investment is to be undertaken with the highest regard for protecting what makes Sark special,’ it said. ‘Longer term, Sark could become one of the world’s most attractive places to live and genuinely unique among Western European, English-language jurisdictions.’
The company has now appointed a third director, Richard Johnson, who has been described as a global real estate professional based in Switzerland.
It also now has an anchor investor, Harris Kupperman, who has been described by Forbes, the business and lifestyle magazine, as a ‘go-anywhere, event-driven investor’.
He founded Praetorian Capital Management and is chief executive of the Mongolia Growth Group, which owns commercial property assets in ‘the downtown of Ulaanbaatar’, the country’s capital.
