Company linked to reclusive Italian billionaire Count Luca Rinaldo Contardo Padulli di Vighignolo. has upwardly revalued its properties from £246m to £284m and refinanced €70m in debt
New accounts for UK-registered Albanwise Ltd, a firm linked to hedge-fund billionaire Count Luca Rinaldo Contardo Padulli di Vighignolo, who bought the historical Wicklow Mountain property five years ago, reveal it has revalued its investment portfolio substantially.
Albanwise raised the valuation of its investment properties from £246m to £284m in its latest set of accounts.
As well as one of Ireland’s most coveted homes, Padulli owns 29,000 acres and the freehold for 100,000 UK homes – more than King Charles.
The property revaluation was largely responsible for a big jump in profits, up from £1.6m before tax in 2022 to £35.6m in 2023. The historical cost of properties in the portfolio was £138.8m, the accounts stated.
They also show that Padulli’s firm had substantial debts due within one year, up from £13.8m to £67.2m. But in April the firm refinanced with Natwest some £60m of bank loans. The firm now has £74m of debt due for repayment within two to five years and a further £70m due after more than five years, said the accounts.
Luggala Estate in Wicklow with Lough Tay below. Photo: Hugh Rooney/via Getty Images
Luggala, the former home of Guinness heir Garech Browne, had been placed on the market in 2017 for €28m.
At the time there had been calls for the State to buy the 5,000-acre Wicklow mountain estate and numerous high-net worth Irish individuals had been linked with a possible purchase. But in 2019, the estate was sold to a private individual based overseas for a sum that was reportedly less than the asking price.
The trust that bought Luggala was later linked to Padulli. He comes from a noble family that owns farmland in Lombardy but he has built substantial land holdings abroad, including an estimated 1pc of Norfolk.
Luggala has major cultural and environmental significance. The lodge on the estate was built for the Dublin Huguenot family of David La Touche – the founder of Bank of Ireland – and dates back to 1787.
From the 1970s, when Garech Browne took over the estate, it became a famous party destination for rich and famous rock stars and actors.
Separate accounts for Luggala Estate Limited – the estate management company – were last published for the year 2022. Those accounts said Luggala Estate was owned by Swiss registered firm Romito AG, which in turn was controlled by Padulli.
The lodge on the estate was built for the Dublin Huguenot family of David La Touche
The accounts revealed that a debt of €27.6m was owed by Luggala Estate Limited to a related party to the firm although did not say which party.
Since that last set of accounts was published by Luggala Estate in 2023, the firm’s Cork-based auditor wrote in February of this year to the Companies Registration Office to give its notice of resignation and there is no record yet of the appointment of a new auditor.
The accounts say that since the company was incorporated in July 2019 – at the time of the sale of the estate – that it has “incurred trading losses and significant cash outflows”.
“The directors expect the company to become profitable by the end of 2024,” said the accounts.
The directors had also received “a confirmation of support from the company’s ultimate controlling party” up to the end of this year.
