Gruppo Campari villa could fetch €300m

Davide Campari-Milano has received interest in a villa obtained through its acquisition of Grand Marnier Group, said to be worth more than €300 million (around US$333m), according to reports.

The firm believe the villa to be worth in excess of €300 million

According to Bloomberg, Middle Eastern and North American buyers are have expressed interest in Villa Les Cedres, on the Mediterranean coast of France, which the Italian drinks giant procured as part of its acquisition of Grand Marnier‘s parent company.

The property, which has belonged to the Marnier-Lapostolle family since the 1920s, is to be sold along with Grand Marnier’s two wine businesses based in France and Chile. Translating as ‘The Ceders’ in English, the villa is located in the Saint Jean Cap Ferrat peninsula and was a former holiday home of King Leopold II of Belgium.

The report reveals Campari CEO Bob Kunze-Concewitz plans to effect the sale process in the third quarter of the year.

He said: “We’re not used to dealing with such assets. We just sell bottles; we don’t spend our time in the Riviera in multimillion-euro villas. Many people who are in the real estate industry see it above 300 million [euros].”

If this estimate is accurate, Villa Les Cedres would be the most expensive residential real estate sale to date. The current record-holder is Paris’s Chateau Louis XIV, which sold for €275 million in December last year.

The sale would result in an additional payout for Grand Marnier shareholders – who received €8,050 per share in cash when Campari instigated its friendly takeover, as well as the right to a cut of the proceeds from the villa’s sale.

The last trade in Grand Marnier shares before they were delisted in July was €8,750.

A committee of Marnier-Lapostolle family members is reportedly overseeing the sale process.