Eir-owner Xavier Niel buys Paris mansion for €200m

The transaction is one of the largest ever deals for a private property in the city

Tue, 22 Mar, 2022 - 17:04

French billionaire Xavier Niel who controls telecoms firm Eir in Ireland has bought Hotel Lambert, a mansion in central Paris owned by Prince Abdullah bin Khalifa al-Thani, for over €200m.

The transaction is one of the largest ever deals for a private property in Paris, beating the €100m paid for the Hotel de Soyecourt in 2011.

Mr Niel, the founder of telecom group Iliad SA, is not planning to live in the 43,000sq ft townhouse and is instead considering using the property for a cultural foundation, Bloomberg has reported.

The “hotel particulier”, the French term for a private mansion, was built in 1640 by Louis Le Vau, a royal architect who contributed to the Versailles Palace. Based on the edge of the Ile Saint-Louis, it also houses a gallery painted by Charles Le Brun, the decorator of the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles.

51% rise in core profit

Mr Niel's French telecoms company Iliad posted a 51% rise in core profit as it added subscribers across its markets in France, Italy, and Poland amid stiff competition that could prompt consolidation across the sector.

The firm, which Mr Niel took private last year, reported 2021 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation after leases of €2.95bn, compared with €1.96bn the previous year.

Iliad, which launched its broadband offer in Italy early this year, also reported its first annual core profit in the country since it entered the mobile market there nearly four years ago, at €80m. Total revenues were up by 29% to €7.6bn. The group is confident of crossing the €8bn mark in 2022.