La Leopolda Villa Sale – Update 2 – Financial Crisis Stops Sale to Russian Billionaire – Will he get his Deposit Back?

The ongoing saga of the sale of the most expensive villa in the world continues. Back in August 2008, we were shocked to be able to announce the agreed sale of Villa Leopolda, Villefranche-sur-mer, on the French Cote D’Azur at the guesstimated price of 500 million Euros. Shortly afterwards, we were able to confirm the sale price as being 365 million Euros ($545 million) which was a staggering price to pay for a single property. The rumor at that time was that Mikhail Prokorov was the mystery Russian billionaire.

Enter financial crisis stage left. Mikhail Prokorov was indeed the buyer, but thanks to a few financial issues back home (Russia has been very hard hit by the crisis) Mr. Prokorov has withdrawn from the sale and is asking for his deposit back.

Under French laws, Mr Prokorov would have been required to place a deposit of 10% – in this case, the rumor is that he paid 39 million Euros, which puts the sale price at 390 million. Some are suggesting that this is just a ploy to reduce the sale price and a new offer of 200 million is on the table. But Mr Prokorov is estimated to have lost 7 billion Euros through a combination of the falling value of the rouble and stock market drops. Either way, he is unlikely to get the money back.

In the meantime, Villa Leopolda is back on the market, the local real estate agents are brushing up on their Arabic language and looking for a Saudi Prince who might be interested instead. An un-named Saudi prince recently purchased Carla Bruni’s castle in Italy. The concensus is that the Russians are out of the luxury property market in France for the foreseeable future.