The two accepted bidders for the Espírito Santo family’s ‘jewel in the crown’ Comporta estate are Pedro Almeida, a successful former stock broker and oil trader who has returned from Switzerland to live in Portugal, and Orion Capital Managers, LLP, a European real estate private equity firm owned by the founders, Aref H. Lahham, Van J. Stults, and Bruce C. Bossom.

Two of the Orion Capital partners held discussions in the past with Asher Edelman and David Storper of Amory Merchant but these did not lead to any working arrangements for the purchase of the Comporta Estate, probably as Orion is known for deals with a shorter pay-back time than many of those handled by Armory Merchant.

The Great Creditor Rip-off is close to being finalised as two low bids are being considered by Haitong Bank for the two companies that control the Espírito Santo family’s Comporta Estate summer playground and future gold mine.

The Luxembourg administrator of Rioforte, the Espírito Santo Group property offshoot, the one that borrowed from and still owes Portugal Telecom around €800 million, instructed José Ricciardi at Haitong bank to 'advise on' and filter any bids for the two Comporta companies that control the estate.

Fueled by frenzied foreign demand and an alluring residency-for-investment programme, the Portuguese property market has flourished in recent years. And with analysts predicting that housing prices in the country will continue to rise, many investors are scrambling for a cut of this burgeoning market.

The ski season is now upon us and many people will be jetting off to the Alps, Pyrenees, USA and Canada for some snow and après-ski.

If you are a keen skier and are thinking of buying a property in a ski resort, these are the main points you need to consider, according to overseas property and finance expert Simon Conn.

Exclusive Algarve Villas December News

The Espírito Santo family playground, the Comporta estate, has long been considered outside the normal property laws to which normal citizens must adhere to.

Espírito Santo clan members wanting to build or refurbish properties on this idyllic stretch of coast and farmland seem simply to have ‘made arrangements’ with the complicit local council and carried on regardless.

The Alojamento Local system is a failure by any measurement with only around 30% of property owners bothering to register on the scheme launched in 2008.

One reader challenged Dear Ed to come up with a ‘five minute solution,’ so here it is. These thoughts on the failed Alojamento Local system and how to fix it, in fact took 15 minutes to write down in draft form. Please add your constructive comments at the end in the Comments section.

Following on from the feature article on algarvedailynews.com: ‘Espírito Santo clan fights to keep control of Comporta Estate - whatever it takes,’ rumours now are rife in Lisbon that, as predicted, a bid has been entered for one of the companies that controls the Comporta estate – a bid that is deliberately low and one, that under the company articles, can be matched by the existing family shareholders to get the estate back under Espírito Santo family control at a rock bottom price.

Inexplicably, on September 16, 2016, the Luxembourg administrator announced Rioforte’s shareholding in the two Comporta estate companies had been released for sale.