- Monday, November 25, 2024
The Serum Institute of India chief bought the house from Dominika Kulczyk, daughter of late businessman Jan Kulczyk, who was once the richest man of Poland.
By: Shubham Ghosh
ADAR Poonawalla, chief executive of Serum Institute of India (SII) — the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer that played a key role in India’s fight against Covid-19 pandemic by producing the Covishield dose — has finalised a deal to purchase London’s most expensive house of the year for nearly Rs 1,446 crore (£137 million), Financial Times reported.
The 42-year-old son of Cyrus Poonawalla, who founded SII, has agreed to pay the money for a Mayfair mansion measuring 25,000 square foot. The property, Aberconway House, dates back to the 1920s and is located near Hyde Park. Poonawalla bought the house from Dominika Kulczyk, daughter of late businessman Jan Kulczyk, who was once the richest man of Poland.
According to the FT report that quoted informed sources, the property will be acquired by Serum Life Sciences, a UK subsidiary of the SII, which is located in the western Indian city of Pune.
The report added that the property is a red-brick structure and is named after Henry Duncan McLaren, Baron Aberconway, a 20th century industrialist who built the Grosvenor Square mansion.
“It is a company guest house which is useful for hosting events and donors and tech partners and it has helped Serum Group in accessing global opportunities that were not possible to do from India,” CNBC reported citing sources.
The transaction will make Aberconway House the second-most expensive home to be sold in London ever. The most expensive deal was made in January 2020 when 2-8a Rutland Gate was sold for £210 million.
The second biggest transaction in 2023 was the purchase of Hanover Lodge mansion for £113 million, the FT report quoted agents as saying. The mansion in Regent’s Park, which had been linked to Russian property investor Andrey Goncharenko, was bought by the family office of Indian billionaire Ravi Ruia.
