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A German entrepreneur and the hereditary lord of Sark have teamed up to buy the estate of the late Sir David Barclay on the tiny Channel island, with a view to listing it on the London stock market.
Swen Lorenz, chief executive of Sarnia Asset Management, and Christopher Beaumont, the 23rd once-feudal seigneur of the island, have set up Sark Property Company to try to do the deal.
Lorenz told the Financial Times he is in talks with investors to raise money to buy around 20 per cent of the island’s land area along with four hotels, 20 commercial properties and 80 houses.
The land and properties belonged to Sir David, who co-owned the Telegraph newspaper group with his twin brother Sir Frederick. Sir David died in 2021.
Sir David’s son Alistair, who faces the threat of bankruptcy after Investec Bank began legal proceedings against him over an unpaid debt, has been trying to sell the portfolio through agents Knight Frank, according to documents seen by the FT.
Sark-based Lorenz and Beaumont are directors of SPC, which is aiming to raise an initial £25mn-£35mn from investors to buy the land and properties — although not the Barclay-owned island of Brecqhou which lies off the coast of Sark — and for working capital, according to a company presentation.
It then plans to raise a further £25mn-£50mn to renovate the properties, a number of which have fallen into disrepair, and buy more land on Sark, with the aim of owning 30-40 per cent of the island.
Lorenz eventually hopes to list the company on the London stock market, a move he says could give it a valuation of around £200mn.
There is precedent for listing a firm such as SPC. Aim-traded FIH Group is a £31mn-market cap company with a wide range of interests in the Falkland Islands including retail, residential and commercial property, and tourism.
Last year the King’s Foundation, a charity set up by King Charles, produced a report on the long-term sustainability of the island, which has a population of about 500, identifying issues such as poor infrastructure and a lack of affordable housing.
SPC, which is a subsidiary of Lorenz’s investment firm Sarnia, plans to pay the foundation to develop a “Sark architectural style”, according to Lorenz, who previously worked as executive director of the Charles Darwin Foundation in the Galápagos Islands.
Alistair Barclay told the FT that “the future of the Sark Estate is not up to me as it rests with the trustees of my late father’s estate”. He added that “Investec is a personal issue and totally unconnected”.
One investor backing SPC is Puerto Rico-based hedge fund manager Harris Kupperman, who runs $382mn-in-assets Praetorian Capital and who has committed to investing roughly $4mn-$5mn.
“What is happening with Sark is very much what we do,” he told the FT. “I totally understand what he [Lorenz] is trying to accomplish. If he can execute then I think it’s going to be a very good business.”
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