Conygar sells Anglesey Freeport site for £18.3m

Stena Line subsidiary Rhosgoch Property has picked up the 203-acre brownfield plot by Amlwch, paying six times the £3m Conygar Invesment Company paid when it acquired the site from the Isle of Anglesey Charitable Trust in 2015.

The Rhosgoch plot was formerly a Shell storage facility. However, the oil company shuttered its facilities there in 1990 and gave the land to the charitable trust.

Back in 2015, Conygar had plans to use the site to support the proposed Wylfa Newydd nuclear power plant. Neither Wylfa Newydd or Conygar’s proposed projects ever came to fruition.

Conygar reported a £15.8m net profit on the £18.3m deal with Rhosgoch Property. The investment company plans to use the funds to repay a £5.6m loan from ASK Partners that was secured against its 36-acre Island Quarter site in Nottingham. Most of the remaining proceeds will go towards the Island Quarter project, which will ultimately deliver a bioscience campus, hundreds of student beds, offices, and more in the heart of the Midlands city.

“We are delighted to have completed the sale of this asset to Stena and to continue our strong working relationship with them,” said Freddie Jones, Conygar property director.

It is unknown what Rhosgoch Property, which was incorporated 13 days ago, plans to accomplish with the site.

Regarding the deal, Ian Hampton, executive director at parent company Stena Line, said: “This investment builds both on our strong relationship with Conygar and our commitment to Anglesey Freeport.

“We continue to work with our partners, including the Isle of Anglesey County Council, Welsh and UK governments and other Freeport landowners to bring the Freeport into full operation to deliver the benefits of the Freeport to everyone in Anglesey and North Wales.”

Stena Line has a long-term, vested interest in the Anglesey Freeport, having owned and operated Holyhead Port for 30 years.

Through its Anglesey Land Holdings company, Stena is also behind the £1bn Prosperity Parc project, which would transform a derelict aluminium smelting site into 108,000 sq ft of offices, 54,000 sq ft of R&D facilities, a 2.5m sq ft data centre, and up to 128 acres of green space.