Comporta’s estate sale was approved by Gesfimo. Vanguard and Amorim are the new owners

Vanguard Properties and Amorim Luxury are the new official owners of Herdade da Comporta’s estate, with the backup of the estate’s manager, Gesfimo. The consortium had already signed a promissory agreement on the 23rd of October to buy Herdade da Comporta’s estate after the Vanguard/Amorim had been the only ones making a final offer.

The decision to sell Herdade da Comporta, which is near Alcácer do Sal and Grândola, south of Lisbon, came three years ago following the collapse of GES and Ricardo Salgado’s Banco Espirito Santo (BES). 

Vanguard Properties, headed by José Cardoso Botelho, and Amorim Luxury, headed by entrepreneur Paula Amorim are the new official owners of the property, having paid €158.2m for the real estate assets which were owned by the Special Investment Manager (Gesfimo).

Given the delicate history of the real estate’s ownership by the bankrupt GES, the Public Ministry and the Central Criminal Instruction court had to approve the transaction, as 60% of the assets were owned by Rioforte, a company affiliated to that group.

Comporta has a debt of €120m to CGD, the Portuguese public bank, and the fund for Herdade da Comporta was almost bankrupt after it was stopped in the Public Ministry, in a process which suffered many delays. Last week, José Cardoso Botelho, the director of Vanguard Properties, guaranteed that “CGD’s loan would be fully reimbursed”.

“This transaction will be great for CGD, who has also believed in the project by investing its money there. The public funds will not be affected at all; on the contrary, this transaction will be beneficial”, he guaranteed last week in the interview with ECO.

With this approval, the fund’s settlement process will now begin. Gesfimo’s General Assembly took place this Tuesday morning in Lisbon.