Ukrainian Billionaire Is Buyer of €200 Million French Riviera Mansion

The new owner of the sprawling French Riviera palace that sold last year for €200 million (US$220.3 million) has been revealed as Ukrainian billionaire Rinat Akhmetov.

Mr. Akhmetov’s holding company SCM Holdings Limited, of which he is the sole proprietor,snapped up Villa Les Cèdres as a long-term investment, the company confirmed in a statement Monday.

The firm did not respond to a request for additional information.

The 200-year-old mansion, in Saint Jean Cap Ferrat in the South of France, was sold to SCM Holdings Limited by the beverage company Campari Group.

Campari acquired Villa Les Cèdres in 2016 when it bought Société des Produits Marnier Lapostolle, the maker of the orange liqueur Grand Marnier, Mansion Global previously reported.

The Marnier-Lapostalle family had owned the palatial 14-bedroom home since the 1920s, and during their tenure, created and curated the verdant, 35-acre botanical garden that now encompasses the mansion.

Almost immediately after their 2016 acquisition, Campari put the 18,000-square-foot estate up for sale with a sky-high €350 million asking price, making it the most expensive home for sale in the world at the time.

The €200 million sale was confirmed in early November 2019, though at the time no information about the buyer was available.

Mr. Akhmetov, 53, is ranked as the richest person in Ukraine, according to Forbes, which estimated his net worth to be US$6.5 billion as of Tuesday. SCM Holdings Limited has assets across a number of sectors including mining, banking, telecommunications and real estate.

Ref: Property Report