An undisclosed buyer has finally stepped up to the helm of the Alfa Nero superyacht, ending a two-year-long saga, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.
That buyer agreed last week to pay $40 million, a huge discount to the $67.6 million that former Google CEO Eric Schmidt bid last year, a deal he eventually abandoned.
The Antigua and Barbuda government sold the superyacht, which houses an infinity pool that converts to a helipad or dancefloor.
The massively discounted price can be attributed to authorities’ need “to get the boat sold,” Richard Higgins, a broker who represented the buyer, told Bloomberg.
Higgins said the European buyer, whose identify was kept secret, intends to put the superyacht on the charter market.
The person “is not included in the sanctions list of any country or institution,” Ronald Sanders, Antigua and Barbuda’s ambassador to the US, told Bloomberg.
The 267-foot-vessel was seized by Antigua and Barbuda authorities after it was linked to Russian oligarch Andrey Guryev, who was accused by the US Treasury Department of having close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Guryev is the founder of Phosagro, Europe’s largest producer of phosphate fertilizers, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
The Alfa Nero was among dozens of superyachts seized following global sanctions against Putin’s closest associates, which led to billions of dollars in frozen assets.
The Alfa Nero’s maiden owner was Guryev, who purchased the vessel for $120 million, according to the US Treasury and the Antigua and Barbuda government. The Russian billionaire had adamantly denied ownership.
After the vessel was seized in 2022, it remained docked in Antigua’s Falmouth Harbour, which cost residents of the Caribbean nation $28,000 in weekly tax dollars for maintenance, which took as many as 44 crew members. The superyacht was then valued at $81 million.
In 2023, the Antigua and Barbuda government put the Alfa Nero up for auction, citing hazards due to a lack of maintenance.Eric Schmidt initially won the bidding, for $67.6 million, but eventually backed out after Guryev’s daughter claimed ownership of the superyacht.
The most recent acquisition of the Alfa Nero finally ends its ownership limbo, during which it racked up millions of dollars in port fees under the custody of the Antigua and Barbuda authorities, Darwin Telemaque, the Alfa Nero’s port manager, told Bloomberg.
Last year, the Wall Street Journal reported that Antigua and Barbuda taxpayers were footing a $28,000-a-week bill to maintain the Alfa Nero, including the salary of an Italian captain and $2,000-a-day in diesel to keep its air conditioning running. That’s because if the AC is turned off, it could let mold spread throughout the vessel and ruin the hardwood interior or a Joan Miró painting onboard, per the WSJ.
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