Property pair worth 750m despite slump
CANDY Brothers Nick and Christian, who build ultra-luxury apartments for the elite, are still worth a combined £750m despite the ailing property market, the head of their corporate finance group said yesterday.
It had been thought that the pair’s wealth would have taken a hit in the recession as the kind of ultra-high specification properties they specialise in have tumbled in value.
But unaudited reports from the Candys’ Guernsey-based CPC company – which Christian founded in 2004 – show their debts at £138m, and their net worth at about £750m.
The net worth figure does not include a potential £550m windfall if the two manage to sell off the rest of the apartments in their One Hyde Park project, which is opposite Harvey Nichols in Knightsbridge.
The accounts show that the brothers had £167m in cash on 31 May, with £68m invested in personal bank accounts. The remainder is invested in private companies.
The brothers built up their successful business during the property boom that occurred between 2001 and 2008. Prices rose from around £2,000 per square foot in 2001 to £6,000 in 2008.
They manage to command top prices with luxury elements such as marble work surfaces, floor to ceiling fridges, panic rooms, bulletproof windows and private lifts.
At the time of the crash in 2008, 35-year-old Chris and 36-year-old Nick had 20 acres of prime real estate in central London.
Most was based in Westminster, some just north of Oxford Street. They also owned the Grosvenor Waterside complex in Chelsea.
The two started to invest in luxury property in the late 1990s and have worked with architects including Richard Meier, Lord Richard Rogers and Lord Norman Foster.
The pair own five homes in Monaco and London, which are worth some £324 according to their corporate finance chief Steven Smith.
The pair are also understood to own two yachts, a helicopter, two Maybachs, two Rolls-Royces, two Bentleys and two Ferraris.