Quebec philanthropist Louis Blouin points to the “predatory” tactics of a private lender to explain the liquidation of his luxury residential estate, La Dune in the Hamptons, under Chapter 11 of the U.S. bankruptcy code. “Everything is resolved,” she assures, however Pres.
Mme Blouin is the subject of a portrait on February 21 describing his “rise” and his “fall”. The New York Times (NYT). The main interested party disputes the tone and terms of the report, which was translated and published in French Pres Three days later. “That's one Soap operaA Netflix,” he says.
The businessman sent an annotated version of the NYT article to various media outlets, attaching an additional twenty supporting documents. It was his group that requested the interview Pres To “set the record straight” and warn against the dangers of real estate.
The property at the center of the case, two villas and a total of 1.6 hectares of land on Gin Lane in Southampton, New York, has been placed under US bankruptcy protection by two companies managed by M.me Bluein.
Photo from Wikimedia Public domain
Businessman Louis Blouin
M. contacted on last Thursday in Switzerland, one of the countries where he livesme As the NYT wrote, Blouin assured that he “hasn't lost all.” “We're coming out of Chapter 11 with a debt that's paid off, no bankruptcy, and a debtor who's caused a lot of problems and wants up to 200% interest. It's completely illegal,” he said.
The entrepreneur pointed to lender Baypoint Advisors to explain his financial problems, which culminated with the auction of La Dune, which was sold by Sotheby's last January for $89 million – including $10 million in brokerage fees. The sale price was well below estimates, around 150 million, and the asking amount in 2016, which was 140 million.
In 2018, Mme Blouin took a 26 million loan from JGB management at high interest rates – which he accused of resorting to a “fraudulent scheme” – to repay the loan from HSBC and renovate La Dune. It is. Paypoint assumed the debt in 2022, assuming the remaining debt from a loan issued by Morgan Stanley in 2011.
Before Baypoint's intervention, the debt “reached 37 million on an estate worth nearly 150,” Qubesser argues. Entrepreneurs estimate that they have lost “almost 50 million in 15 months” due to predatory behavior aimed at “self-lending” (Own credit)
A hunter does two things well. He lends you money and steals your time so that you default on your payments. He uses all means.
Louis Blouin
La Dune's sale price of 89 million, the NYT wrote, puts Louis Blouin in debt because it does not cover the value of the amounts owed to the lender. “That's wrong,” she replied. “I bought Southampton for 11 million, I kept 10 million. We sold for 89 million. All debts are paid. We dispute a certain amount because the creditor is charging too much. The judge will take care of him. I used Chapter 11 to protect myself from his behavior. »
Mme Blouin is confident that the sale of the 19-room mansion and Hamptons lot will net him “tens of thousands, up to 25.”
The Atlanta-based real estate lender did not respond to questions from BayPoint Advisors Pres While writing these lines.
“400 million” profit
The philanthropist finds it “absurd” that the NYT article talks about his “fall”, while he describes his success as “extraordinary” and his career as almost “flawless” in the arts and business world.
He recently launched a real estate fund called Atlas, which has interests in the United States, the United Kingdom and France, according to a table he provided us with. Investments in Quebec are in the pipeline.
I have done a lot of real estate and I have a very interesting profit. I earned around 400 million in few years.
Louis Blouin
But the media that condemns Louis Blouin always prefers to talk about his boots rather than his career. “Would it be different if I were a man?” Yes. The media talks more about my looks than my appearance. »
Throughout the interview, Mme Blouin condemns the coverage against him around the Panama Papers – “It's a completely legal system” – and the delay in paying Louis Blouin to the media – “I was the victim of a very significant fraud in New York in the 2010s” -, its real estate concerns in Mont-Tremblant – “OACIQ [Organisme d’autoréglementation du courtage immobilier du Québec] He ruled that the brokers did not respect ethics” – or even his problems with the US tax authorities: “We are in court. They say they haven't received an amount, we say we sent it. We were looking for her and I think we found her. A person who needed to change money had it. »
These “few obstacles, five or six in 40 years, it's nothing,” she slips. “I was extraordinarily lucky. »
This will be discussed in the book currently being written. Torture. “It will be an amalgamation of my work in art and my experience as an entrepreneur,” he says.
Read the file The New York Times “The Spectacular Bankruptcy of Louis Blouin”
Who is Louis Blouin?
Born October 15, 1958 in Dorval
Got a classified ad magazine Auto Hepto with her ex-husband John MacBain in 1987. The pair founded Trader Classified Media, a company that will have about 7,000 employees.
In 2000 he sold his shares and received about 200 million.
Louis Blouin Media (LBM), founded in 2003, is a publisher of art magazines and websites.
Louis returned to philanthropy in 2005 by creating the Blouin Foundation.
According to his biography, from 2003 to 2018 he gave about 140 million to the fields of culture and science.
Manages real estate funds and heads LPM's ordinary successor Bluein Artinfo Media.
