India’s billionaire “vaccine prince” Adar Poonawalla has bagged London’s most expensive home deal of the year, shelling out approximately £138mn for a 25,000 square-foot mansion in Mayfair.

According to a Financial Times report, the 1920s-era Aberconway House is being sold by Dominika Kulczyk, daughter of the late Jan Kulczyk, Poland’s wealthiest man.

The transaction will be handled by Serum Life Sciences, the UK arm of Poonawalla family’s Serum Institute of India. The property is now the second-most expensive residence ever sold in London, and the largest deal of the year, as per luxury property agents.

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Despite global political tensions and potential tax changes, trophy properties in London remain attractive to international buyers. A source close to Serum Life Sciences stated that although the Poonawalla family has “no plans” to permanently move to the UK, the mansion “will serve as a base for the company and family when they are in the UK”.

The acquisition follows the Poonawalla family’s multimillion-pound investments in vaccine research and manufacturing facilities near Oxford. The Serum Institute manufactured hundreds of millions of doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine. In 2021, Poonawalla rented the Grade II-listed property for more than £50,000 a week.

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cover image courtesy Spudgun67 on Wikimedia Commons.