Christian Candy remortgages and sells £340m of property assets
UK property mogul Christian Candy has mortgaged and sold up to £340m ($460m) worth of assets, including a villa on the French Riviera, a penthouse above the Plaza Hotel in New York and a seven-bedroom house in London. A spokesman for businessman Mark Holyoake, who took legal action against Christian and his brother Nick Candy after they fell out over a loan, said Holyoake was "extremely concerned" at the reshuffle. Judgment in the case is expected in October.

The controversial property mogul Christian Candy, whose luxury developments attracted some of the highest prices ever paid for London real estate, has sold and mortgaged assets worth an estimated £340m in less than a year.



The sum is a significant part of the £600m joint fortune Christian and his elder brother and business partner, Nick, disclosed to a British court last year.

A trawl through the land registry, property websites and news reports suggests that eight homes and developments have been sold, borrowed against or placed on the market between July 2016 and June of this year.

They include a villa on the French Riviera, a penthouse above the Plaza Hotel in New York, and a seven-bedroom, seven-bathroom house in London with a swimming pool and staff quarters.

Known as the “brothers bling” for their private jet, their yachts and collections of Swiss watches and sports cars, the Candys were the poster boys for London’s super-luxe real estate boom. Their developments, including One Hyde Park in Knightsbridge, attracted oligarchs, Nigerian petro-bosses and Middle Eastern royals.

But the five-year high-end property rush has stalled, with too many competing developments and an oil price slump curbing interest from potential buyers. Christian Candy, it seems, has decided to cash in some of his chips.

Nick and Christian Candy at the launch of their One Hyde Park development in 2011. Photograph: Dave M. Benett/Getty Images

“Players at this level often shuffle their chess pieces around,” said property agent and market commentator Henry Pryor. “The market, even for the Candy brothers, is no longer as sweet as it was a couple of years ago – but, having enjoyed some of the most impressive returns over the years, they can probably weather a modest downturn.”

However, the disposals have prompted legal letters from the businessman Mark Holyoake, who is suing the brothers for £132m in damages after they fell out over a loan. The trial was held in February and March, and judgment in the case is expected in October.

Many of the transactions took place during and after the trial. Holyoake’s solicitors wrote to the Candys in July threatening to ask for a court ruling to freeze their assets. Such an order would prevent the brothers from making any further disposals. However, Holyoake has yet to take any such action.

His spokesman said: “We are extremely concerned at the level of recent Candy property disposals in the UK and abroad. Mr Holyoake and his legal team are currently investigating these issues as a matter of urgency and will not hesitate to take appropriate action if assets are being dissipated.”

The Candys declined to comment on the disposals and dismissed Holyoake’s concerns as misplaced and without foundation. They have fully defended the claims brought by Holyoake and expect to be successful in their defence. They say their remaining assets would, after the disposals, be sufficient to cover any penalty were Holyoake’s case to succeed.

Loans have been taken out against properties, including a two-floor penthouse in block D at One Hyde Park, where security measures include iris scanners and SAS-trained guards. The proprietor is a company registered at the Guernsey address used by Christian Candy’s CPC Group.

In July 2016, it raised a mortgage from the Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, according to the title deed, which states that the bank is under obligation to “make further advances”.

The Plaza hotel in New York, where Christian Candy sold a £31m apartment. Photograph: Lisa Carpenter

This June, Christian Candy was reported to be under contract to sell his three-floor Plaza penthouse for just under $40m (£31m). The property, which occupies the attic floors of a famous New York hotel once owned by Donald Trump, was acquired for $25m in 2012 and, after a revamp, was placed on the market a year later with a price tag of $59m. A buyer was found after a decision to drop the price earlier this year, according to reports.



In May, Villa l’Horizon in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, one of the most expensive locations on the French Riviera, was sold to an undisclosed buyer – for nearly 30% less than the original €35m (£31m) asking price.

Hugh House on Eaton Square was refinanced in March with Swiss bank UBS. It appears to have been put up for sale and then withdrawn. Once the property of Lily Safra, widow of billionaire banker Edmond Safra, it was marketed at £45m by the estate agent Savills, according to an advert which states it has now been “removed by the agent”.

Clermont Trust (Switzerland) SA, which appears to be a Geneva-based wealth manager, is now named as the proprietor of three other addresses.

A large property at Cornwall Terrace, used by Christian as his London family home, has been transferred to Clermont for just over £39m according to a land registry entry from December 2016. The Swiss group is also named on the title deeds of two associated houses at Cornwall Terrace Mews: one was acquired for £2m, and the other, valued at £1.2m, previously belonged to Christian Candy’s wife Emily Crompton.

Cornwall Terrace next to London’s Regent’s Park. Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

Finally, the Financial Times reported in June that the Duke’s Lodge development was for sale. The 1930s mansion block was bought for £85m, according to the title deed, and Christian Candy’s CPC Group obtained planning permission to refurbish the building as luxury flats. Rather than developing the property itself, CPC is now reported to be seeking buyers at a discounted £75m.

In 2016, a judge imposed restrictions on disposals by the Candys. He forbade them from selling assets worth more than £1m without notifying Holyoake first, after deciding there was “risk of dissipation” ahead of the damages trial, which took place in the high court in February and March of this year.

The judge later varied the restriction significantly, including allowing for no notice on “transactions in the ordinary and proper course of business”. In October the court of appeal decided the notification order should be completely lifted, with a judge concluding there was “insufficient evidence showing a real risk of dissipation”.

One Hyde Park, London. Photograph: View Pictures/REX

The properties

1. One Hyde Park Penthouse D, London – valued at £120m in 2011, was refinanced in July 2016 according to the land registry

2. Plaza Penthouse, New York – reported in June 2017 to be under contract with a buyer at just under $40m

3. Hugh House, London – mortgaged in March 2017, advertised for sale at £45m

4. Villa L’Horizon, Cap-Ferrat – the French Riviera villa was originally marketed at €35m, but reported in May to have been sold for €25m

5. Cornwall Terrace, London – Britain’s “most expensive terraced house”, overlooking Regent’s Park, was bought for £35m in 2012. In February of this year it was recorded as transferred to Clermont Trust (Switzerland) SA, at a value of £39m.

6. Cornwall Terrace Mews – Originally in the name of Emily Crompton, Christian’s wife, the property was transferred in February 2017 to Clermont Trust for £1.2m.

7. Cornwall Terrace Mews – a second mews house associated with the main property at Cornwall Terrace was transferred to Clermont Trust for £2m in January 2017.

8. Duke’s Lodge, London – The 1930s mansion block in Holland Park was bought for £85m in 2015, and refinanced with a loan from Credit Suisse in February 2017. A newspaper report says it is now on the market for £75m.

