Woodford’s £85m holding in Ibiza millionaires’ paradise is sold off
NEIL WOODFORD’S £85 million stake in a luxury Ibiza property scheme has been sold as the disgraced fund manager’s holdings are unwound to return money to investors.
Woodford was a major investor in Sabina Estates – a private villa development aimed at the international super-rich – through his flagship Equity Income fund.
The company was co-founded by Woodford business ally Anton Bilton. It was among the high-risk stocks put up for sale when Woodford’s empire started unravelling in the summer.
Woodford’s investment firm collapsed earlier this month and he was fired after investing vast sums in shares that proved too difficult to sell when customers wanted their money back.
The unlisted stocks in Woodford’s portfolio, worth around £1 billion, are now being sold off by investment firm PJT Park Hill. BlackRock is selling the listed stocks. Interested buyers reportedly include venture fund Rosetta Capital.
It is understood a contract has been signed to sell Woodford’s
Sabina Estates holding, which was valued at £85.5 million last December. The buyer and the price paid are confidential.
Sabina Estates was set up by Bilton and business partners Glyn Hirsch and Agustin del Pino with the purchase of a 42-acre plot on Ibiza’s west coast in 2015.
They are building 50 villas designed by celebrity architects, to be sold for up to €20 million (£17.3 million). Seven villas were completed and sold by September.
Woodford’s links to Bilton date back to 2005 when he invested in the entrepreneur’s Russian warehouse firm Raven Property Group while working for fund house Invesco.
After leaving Invesco and setting up his own fund house, Woodford was Raven’s secondbiggest investor. He sold his shares back to Raven for £26 million this summer after his Equity Income fund was frozen.
A brokerage backed by Bilton and Hirsch sponsored the listing of Sabina Estates and several of
Woodford’s other unlisted stocks on the Guernsey stock exchange to help him meet liquidity rules. Sabina Estates delisted in August.
Woodford and Sabina Estates declined to comment.