The sale of the real estate side of Herdade de Comporta is reported to have been arranged with Ardma Imobiliária, a company controlled by oil magnate, Pedro Almeida and a group of Portuguese partners.
The luxury west coast estate, long referred to as 'the jewel in the crown' of the Espírito Santo clan, is being sold off in highly mysterious circumstances and ‘at a symbolic price’ despite being worth hundreds of millions on the open market.
A source close to the deal commented to algarvedailynews, "If it goes through, goodby the Comporta that we knew. There is a side deal with the (Espírito Santo) family so watch the developments with the agricultural company. It will not actually be properly auctioned as there are and will be more duo company arrangements which will exclude real bidders."
As it stands, the Herdade da Comporta property business owes Caixa Geral de Depósitos over €112 million and has defaulted.
The collapsed Grupo Espírito Santo property company, Rioforte, holds 59% of the shares which its Luxembourg liquidator has been trying to offload but prevented from doing so by the appointed advisor, Haitong Bank, which has screened out any sensible bids.
A further 26% of the shares are held by a disparate group of 80 Espírito Santo family members who are allowed to match any bids for the business - an option they may still exercise.
At first, Haitong Bank’s José Maria Ricciardi, a cousin of Ricardo Salgado, was commissioned to select a bidder for the shares held by Rioforte in the Herdade de Comporta real estate business, despite a glaring conflict of interests due to his family connection.
This controversial arrangement soon was under fire with Ricciardi blocking overseas bidders in order to try and maintain control of the estate which, if shorn of debt, could be highly profitable.
Such was the nature of Ricciardi’s motivation, bidders such as Asher Edelman and David Storper of Amory Merchant in the US, despite having a minimum of €400 million to spend on acquiring the Comporta businesses where assets are valued at least at €420 million, were fobbed off in favour of any arrangement that would keep the estate Portuguese and preferably controlled by the Espírito Santo family or a ‘front man’ ally.
in December 2016, Ricciardi was fired from Haitong bank by its chairman Hiroki Miyazato and said he was going "to pursue other interests," hinting at a large property deal. Maybe this is it, with Ardma Imobiliária fronting a bid for the family’s beloved Herdade de Comporta.
Today’s announcement of a sale ‘at a symbolic price’ needs urgent unpicking as the Luxembourg administrator clearly colluded with Haitong’s Ricciardi to block at least one high bid but now is happy to hand the estate over for a symbolic price.
The deal is not yet complete so it interesting to hear that such a delicate and confidential negotiations are in progress between the insolvency administrator of Rioforte and Pedro Almeida’s bag-carriers, said to be focusing on the debt owed to Caixa Geral.
The sale is being pitched as ‘saving’ the tourist enterprise at Herdade da Comporta with the Public Ministry approving the deal but in reality the ministry is trying to cloud the underlying issues by stating that the money from the sale ‘will stay in Portugal.’
Although Pedro Almeida says he wants also to buy the agricultural side of the business, this part of Herdade da Comporta is not included and without the real estate side and agricultural businesses being sold together, any contested buyer will always struggle to make sense of the overall Comporta opportunity.
The conclusion is that Almeida is a welcomed bidder and that the clan has found a front man to get the estate back into family control after the disastrous collapse and subsequent disgrace of its leader Ricardo Salgado. Any future family involvement arranged by Ricciardi will exclude Ricardo Salgado as the two cousins are not on speaking terms.
By transferring the business at a low price, taxpayer-owned Caixa Geral may be no nearer to getting repaid, duped Rioforte investors will be no better off and the real circumstances surrounding the deal seem already to be hushed up by a complicit Portuguese press.
The State also is complicit as it approved the unfreezing and sale of Herdade de Comporta as long as the money released was held by the Portuguese courts. The deal, although announced today, has many provisos but the spin and press manipulation seems already to have started.
For background, see:
- Bidders named in Comporta estate stitch-up
- (Property )
- ... he know’ and the blocking of serous bids from those outside the magic circle, could deprive creditors of Rioforte Investments (Rioforte Investments owns a 59.09% stake in ‘Herdade da Comporta - Fundo Espec ...
- Created on 14 December 2016
- Haitong Bank involved in crooked deal for Comporta Estate
- (Property )
- ... rs. Rioforte Investments owns a 59.09% stake in ‘Herdade da Comporta - Fundo Especial de Investimento Imobiliário Fechado’ and a 58% stake in ‘Herdade da Comporta - Atividades Agro-silvícolas e Turíst ...
- Created on 12 December 2016
- Insider deal aims to secure Comporta estate for 'clan' members
- (Property )
- ... estate companies had been released for sale. Rioforte Investments had applied to the Central Department of Investigation and Penal Action (DCIAP) to release Herdade de Comporta’s two controlling companies ...
- Created on 30 November 2016
- Espírito Santo clan fights to keep control of Comporta Estate - whatever it takes
- (Property )
- ... es, we are sorry that the receivers of Rioforte Investments have no choice but to suspend the sale of assets in Herdade da Comporta - Atividades Agro-silvícolas e Turísticas S.A. and in Herdade da Comp ...
- Created on 28 November 2016
- Liquidator prevented from selling Rioforte's 'Herdade da Comporta'
- (Property )
- The liquidator of Rioforte Investments, part of the Espírito Santo Group, today announced the suspension of all activity related to the sale of Herdade da Comporta, the large farm and luxury residential ...
- Created on 09 June 2015
- Espírito Santo Property offers bondholders 'repayment in full' by 2020
- (News)
- ... they "would be willing to facilitate the solution currently under consideration." Offers to buy ‘Herdade da Comporta’ (pictured) owned by Espírito Santo Property were rejected last week by the Luxembour ...
- Created on 31 March 2015
- Espírito Santo's 'Jewel in the Crown' fails to sell
- (News)
- Offers to buy the grand Espírito Santo estate ‘Herdade da Comporta’ have been rejected by the Luxembourg judge administering the insolvent Espírito Santo Property. The judge politely referred to the ...
- Created on 27 March 2015
- Rioforte appeals Luxembourg liquidation decision
- (News)
- ... it owns the Tivoli hotel business, Herdade de Comporta the 12,500 hectare development on the Tróia peninsular and projects in Brazil, Mozambique and Paraguay. Espírito Santo Group has decided to challenge ...
- Created on 27 October 2014
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