Oceanco superyacht Equanimity going under the hammer for “nine-digit asking price”

91.5-metre (300-foot) superyacht Equanimity is set to be auctioned off for a “nine-digit asking price” according to lawyers affiliated to the case and overseeing the sale. She is valued at $250 million.

Brokerage firm Burgess, appointed in October to conduct the deal, will be ensuring that the sale goes ahead by the end of March 2019.

The superyacht has been mired in legal issues since March, when it was reported that Equanimity was seized by Indonesian authorities as part of a US investigation into the siphoning of assets from Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) between 2009 and 2015.

In the following months the Malaysian government and Equanimity’s apparent holding company have been involved in a protracted ownership dispute, with the latter claiming that the Oceanco-built boat should never have ended up in the hands of the authorities.

The superyacht, allegedly bought with funds embezzled from 1MDB, is believed to belong to fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho and was handed to the Malaysian authorities at the beginning of August. He has been identified as a key figure in the 1MDB scandal, which has seen an alleged misappropriation of $4.5 billion. As well as Equanimity, embezzled funds were reportedly used to purchase the right to several Hollywood blockbusters, including The Wolf Of Wall Street and Dumb and Dumber To.

Sitpah Selvaratnam, a member of the legal team representing the fund, has already confirmed that Low Taek Jho is not intending to protest the sale.

Malaysian finance minister Lim Guan Eng has also stated that the government will undertake a full inventory of items aboard the yacht and open it for public viewing before ensuring it is sold at auction for “the highest price”.

To read more about the 1MDB scandal, visit Bloomberg. Follow Yachting Pages on Facebook and Twitter to join the conversation.

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