Simon Halabi

The recent collapse of the Esporta health club operator will have caused some pain to Simon Halabi. He bought it just nine months previously in a deal reckoned to be worth £476m including debt. His losses on the venture could run as high as £150m according to authoritative press reports. He is also threatening legal action against the former owners.

The Esporta difficulty comes as Halabi's latest venture, 'The PM Club', is nearing completion. It aims to be one of the world's most exclusive and glamorous private members' clubs aimed at the global elite. The invitation only club will utilise his family trust's existing assets- the old In and Out Club in Piccadilly and Mentmore Towers, the former Rothschild estate in Buckinghamshire. These historic buildings are being painstakingly restored to their former glory.

The Halabi family trust, advised by Buckingham Securities, the family property group, has grown in value by at least £1bn on further trophy property assets in London, where Halabi has lived since he was a teenager. These include the King's Reach office development in the City, Alban Gate, The Bankside Estate, Millennium Bridge House and 60 -victoria Embankment. Before the recent Esporta problems, a recent revaluation of the property portfolio and his shareholding in "The Shard of Glass" tower project took the Halabi family trust's gross investment and development portfolio to around £5bn. Stripping out £2bn of debt leaves the Halabi family at £3bn. It was reported in March 2007 that Halabi is planning to float a real estate investment trust which could have up to £2.5bn of assets.