Farhad Moshiri holds the largest stake in Liverpool’s Royal Liver Building, according to new documents.
The iconic building was put up for sale days after a longtime Russian associate of the British-Iranian businessman was hit with sanctions.
Moshiri, the Everton Football Club owner who is under growing scrutiny for his ties to billionaire oligarch Alisher Usmanov, owns 49.9% of the Liverpool waterfront office building, which is on the market for only the second time in its more than 100-year history.
CBRE started marketing the property to potential buyers earlier this month for in excess of £90m, acting for a group of investors that acquired it for £48m in 2017.
While property investment group Corestate Capital fronted that acquisition, the Luxembourg-based company’s accounts show it only has a 35% stake in the Royal Liver Building. The FT said it had seen another document breaking down the building’s ownership structure, which details the size of Moshiri’s stake.
A group of unnamed “international” investors are the other owners.
Shortly after the 2017 acquisition, Moshiri told the Liverpool Echo that he had been part of the consortium that had bought the property, but it has not previously been reported that the British-Iranian businessman holds the largest stake in the Grade I listed building.
A spokesman for Moshiri said: “Corestate took the view that now is the right time to sell and made that recommendation to all investors.” He added that the businessman had not ruled out buying the other 50.1% stake in the building.
CBRE declined to comment.
