Barely two weeks since it was reported that hedge funder of SAB Capital, Scott Bommer, is "in contract to sell" Hamptons property in an off-deal market, it has been revealed that the sale is about to close and the buyer is no other than Michael S. Smith.
Page Six has exclusively learned that the natural gas billionaire purchased the three Lily Pond Lane properties for a record-breaking $110 million, the fifth most expensive residential sale in the U.S., and the second-most expensive in Hamptons. The top spot is currently owned by activist-investor Barry Rosenstein who bought a $147 million 18-acre property in East Hampton.
The three properties are located in 93 Lily Pond Lane, 101 Lily Pond Lane and 97 Lily Pond Lane, which Bommer bought in 2014 for $93.9 million from telecommunications executive Allen Salmasi and financier Maurice Cunniffe. These include a 1914 five-bedroom house with 4,500 square feet of space and an oceanfront which measures 284 feet.
The chairman and CEO of Freeport LNG Development reportedly won the deal over the $95 million offer from hedge funder billionaire David Tepper.
Bommer's decision to sell his properties come as he is said to be giving back most of his investors' money and invest his own wealth, according to The Real Deal. At the end of 2014, Bommer, who has ventured in house flipping as well, had $1.1 billion in assets.
Another Hampton property making it to Forbes' list of most expensive home sales in U.S. history is at Further Lane de Menil, East Hampton. The 40-acre undeveloped oceanfront land was bought by investment guru Ron Baron for $103 million in 2007.
Based on the Forbes' list, the most expensive is the 9,000-square-foot property in Mountain Home Road, Woodside, California, sold for $117.5 million to an undisclosed buyer. It was sold by Tully Friedman, chief executive of Friedman, Fleischer and Lowe.
