When one leaves, another arrives

On April 23rd 2018 a company was registered on the Luxembourg equivalent of Companies House. The name of this company was F55 Sterling Folkestone S. à r. l., Luxembourg an offshore jurisdiction, used for “tax efficiencies“. A director/manager (one of three) of this company is a Mr Diego Rico (pictured), company executive,  Westbrook Partners, who is a Global Financial Control and Operations Office, based at their headquarters  in Florida, (USA).

Westbrook Partners – is an American private equity company, registered as a company in Delaware in 2014. Goldman Sachs have recently purchased a minority share in the company.

Westbrook invests money from public and private pension funds, endowments, foundations, and financial institutions, mainly based in America – and largely in Texas. These include investments on behalf of many lower-paid workers including firefighters, teachers and other public sector employees. The Texas Permanent School Fund, the nation’s largest education endowment, committed $375m to Westbrook 2008 and 2014, while the Teacher Retirement System of Texas has invested $150m.

The New York State Teachers Retirement System and the Pennsylvania State Employees Retirement System have invested $50m and $30m respectively. The Ohio Police & Fire have committed $30m.

The address the company is registered at, 160 Greentree Drive, Suite 101, Dover, US-DE 19904, appears in the Panama Papers not once, but twice. There are those who consider the state of Delaware  a corporate tax haven – an offshore jurisdiction.

In Nov 2014 Westbrook featured in the Guardian regarding a story where Westbrook purchased the New Era housing estate with the help of Richard Benyon, the Conservative MP – the richest man in the House of Commons – whose multimillion-pound family estate was a partner on the deal. They informed the 96 households that they planned to charge “market rents” on an estate that had provided affordable accommodation since the 1930s. – Gentrification?

Westbrook Partners sold the  New Era Estate to charitable landlords, the Dolphin Square Foundation in late 2014, after nearly 350,000 people signed a petition backing the residents of the New Era Estate. Resident and mum Lindsey Garrett who started the petition on change.org said: “This is a massive victory for us and we’re all delighted with the news.

F55 Sterling Folkestone S. à r. l,  bought Lympne Industrial Park, Otterpool Lane, Lympne, Hythe CT21 4LR, on the 19.07.2018 and paid £9,686,701 according to land registry documents.

Lympne Industrial Park – Google My Maps

Purchased by F55 STERLING FOLKESTONE S.A.R.L. on the 19/07/2018

They have NOT bought the NuSteel site according to the land registry. So as one offshore company, Phides Estates, leaves Lympne, another arrives. Are the ultimate owners here to be wealth creators or wealth extractors. We’ll leave you to decide that.

There are legitimate uses for offshore companies and trusts. We do not intend to suggest or imply that any people, companies or other entities included in this blog post have broken the law or otherwise acted improperly.

The Shepwayvox Team Journalism for the people NOT the powerful