Brandeaux is to wind up its range of student property investments which have been suspended for more than six months.
The managers of the Brandeaux Ground Rent, Brandeaux Student Accommodation and Brandeaux Dual Assets funds - which are all unregulated products - wrote to investors in December stating their intentions to sell all assets and wind up the funds.
The funds were suspended last summer due to liquidity concerns, which Brandeaux blamed on the Financial Services Authority’s move in 2011 to ban the sale of unregulated funds to retail investors.
Friends Provident, which operates a mirror version of the Ground Rent fund, said in a letter to its investors that proceeds from sales will be released to investors “as soon as possible after the completion of each sale”.
However, one potential buyer of some of the Ground Rent fund’s assets has pulled out, according to the letter. Brandeaux said the development was “unexpected and disappointing” but claimed there was still interest from other bidders.
“It is not possible to say definitively when further property sales will complete and, therefore, when the winding-up process will commence,” Brandeaux said.
“However, the directors are taking steps to progress these matters as quickly as possible while at the same time preserving shareholder value.”
More than £1.1bn is invested in the sterling share classes of three funds - the Brandeaux Student Accommodation, Brandeux Dual Asset and the Ground Rent Portfolio Plus funds - which are all domiciled in the British Virgin Islands.
