News
Billionaire Oil Heirs Pivot to Luxury Property and Diamonds
(Bloomberg) -- The billionaire family behind one of Europe’s largest independent oil companies is boosting investments in high-end real estate, diamonds and clothing as it seeks to branch out from hydrocarbons.
The French Perrodo clan, whose late patriarch Hubert founded Perenco, is making bets on assets ranging from a $21 million office and apartment block in New York’s SoHo to packaged Italian food and upmarket property in Spain, according to recent regulatory filings and website updates.
The investments offer a rare glimpse into a secretive family that’s parlayed a marine services company started half a century ago in Asia into a global oil and gas producer. It specializes in buying marginal or mature fields from major oil companies and then working to boost their profitability.
The firm is controlled by an offshore holding company in the Bahamas. Chairman Francois Perrodo, 47, is the eldest son of Hubert and an avid race car driver. The clan, with a net worth of more than $8 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, includes his mother Ka Yee Wong Perrodo, 73, known as Carrie, and siblings Nathalie Samani, 42 and Bertrand Perrodo, 40.
The three heirs are allocating capital partly through their London-based family office BNF Capital, a private equity firm called Perwyn Advisors and property developer Kronos, based in Luxembourg and co-founded a decade ago by Bertrand.
A spokesman for Perenco declined to comment.
Perenco has stuck to its historic focus on fossil fuel production, expanding into areas like natural gas and exploration. In contrast, the second-generation Perrodos have in recent years used proceeds from the business to branch out into an array of sectors, adding to forays into battery metals, uranium and vineyards.
BNF Capital last year invested in BC Brands, which brought together the Bandier and Carbon38 labels of workout and casual clothes. It’s also stepped up investments in real estate, including the building in New York’s SoHo district and a £37-million ($46 million) office development in Bristol, southwest England.
BNF’s investment partners include London property specialist Morgan Capital, venture capital firm Felix Capital, Airbnb property manager City Relay, food technology investor Bloom8 and Kronos Investment Group, which Betrand started along with Said Hejal to focus on property in Spain and Portugal.
Kronos Homes has developed residences in vacation hotspots like Andalusia and the Algarve, as well as a high-rise in Valencia.
Recent Perwyn investments include Rubel & Menasche, a high-end Parisian specialist in small-sized gems for jewelry and watches, Crosta & Mollica, which distributes pizza and ice cream in the UK, and insurance distributor Atec, according to its website.
Perwyn has backed about 20 European and UK companies including the European Sperm Bank, Vixio, a regulatory specialist for the gambling and payments industries, and online travel agent Cruiseline. Last year it also opened a new office in Milan, the third after London and Paris.
Perwyn’s private equity arm typically invests in businesses with an enterprise value of between £100 million and £500 million, taking an “active role” in situations like buyouts or spin-offs where it would be the first or second outside investor, according to its website.
One investment in the Perwyn portfolio, Isla Delice, is expanding through an acquisition in Germany, according to a press release Monday.
Perenco UK, which represents only a small part of the oil company, has paid higher dividends in recent years compared with what the closely held company has previously reported. For 2022 and 2023 results, the unit’s payouts reached £734 million, according to filings. A £100 million payout in 2019 was the only other payment in financial reports going back to 2014.
--With assistance from Devon Pendleton.
(Adds Perwyn investment in 14th paragraph)