Got a spare $324 million? Buy a slice of this strategic Arctic archipelago
By Jack Guy, CNN
(CNN) — The last piece of privately-owned land in the Arctic archipelago Svalbard is up for sale for a cool 300 million euros ($324 million).
Spanning 14,830 acres (23.2 square miles), the land has “significant environmental, scientific and economic importance,” according to a listing from agent Knight Frank.
The archipelago is located between mainland Norway and the North Pole, and has taken on greater geopolitical importance as the sea ice melts, opening new shipping routes and increasing its strategic value.
“Considering the geopolitical and strategical aspects, the commercial potential, the climate changes and the increasing interest of the arctic areas in general, the property represents a unique opportunity,” according to the sellers.
The land is found at Wedel Jarlsberg in western Svalbard and can be reached in three hours by boat from Longyearbyen, the largest settlement in the archipelago, which offers regular flights to the Norwegian capital Oslo, according to the listing.
Located inside a fjord, the plot has five kilometers (three miles) of shoreline, as well as mountains, glaciers and “an abundance of wildlife,” reads the listing.
An eventual buyer will in fact acquire Aktieselskabet Kulspids, a privately owned Norwegian limited company which owns the land.
Per Kyllingstad, a lawyer representing the sellers, told CNN that the company was formed more than a century ago by a group of wealthy industrialist families from Oslo, who explored the possibility of mining asbestos on the land.
Since discovering that this is not feasible, there’s been almost no activity there, Kyllingstad said Monday.
The ownership of the company has evolved since, and the current owners have decided that increasing interest in the Arctic means now is a good time to sell, he explained.
“This is the last private land on Svalbard,” said Kyllingstad, who added that there is “huge potential for a variety of activities.”
The lucky buyer will have permission to install “wireless telegraphy installations,” and the extreme northerly position of the property makes it an exceptional spot for satellite communications, he added.
Potential buyers include nation states, government agencies or ultra high net worth individuals, Jonathan Webb, a lawyer for Zeiler Floyd Zadkovich, an international firm which is working with Kyllingstad on the sale, told CNN.
“In terms of trophy properties, this is in a different league,” said Webb.
The purchaser will have to come from one of the 46 nations that have ratified the Svalbard Treaty, which established Norwegian sovereignty over the archipelago.
However, there are no restrictions on which nations can ratify the treaty, and all signatories have equal rights, said Kyllingstad.
While the sellers thought it fair to offer the land to the Norwegian government, they will ultimately sell to the highest bidder on the open market, he added.
While authorities in Oslo stepped in to buy another piece of land that was up for sale 10 years ago amid reported interest from China, the government cannot intervene to halt a sale to any treaty party, said Kyllingstad.
“They are obliged to treat all the parties to the treaty equally,” he said.
The-CNN-Wire
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