Vatican sells London building at heart of corruption trial to Bain Capital (updated)

Bain Capital Specialty Finance

01/07/2022 14:28

(Adds background)
    VATICAN CITY, July 1 (Reuters) - The Vatican said on Friday
it had sold the luxury London building at the centre of an
ongoing corruption trial to Bain Capital in recent days for 186
million pounds ($223.6 million).
    Losses from the deal were covered by Vatican reserve funds,
the Vatican said in a statement, adding that donations from the
faithful in a fund known as Peter's Pence had not been used. 
    The sale of the building on Sloane Avenue in Chelsea,
London, marks a turning point in a sordid chapter in the
Vatican's investment strategies.
    A trial of 10 people, including a cardinal, reaches its 
first anniversary later this month. All the defendants have
denied wrongdoing.
    The real estate venture at its centre began in 2014, when
the Vatican's Secretariat of State invested 350 million euros
($390 million)in the building, using brokers it later accused of
extortion and other financial crimes.
    The prosecution told the court in January that the losses
totalled more than 200 million euros. Friday's statement did not
give a definitive figure for the loss.

 (Reporting by Philip Pullella; Editing by Giulia Segreti, Jan
Harvey and Alex Richardson)
 ((Giulia.Segreti@tr.com; +39.06.80307714;))