French court documents reveal that Château Vignelaure, the wine estate owned by the couple behind bankrupt auction house Lauritz.com, was sold for 11.213 million euros in late July 2026.
The estate in southern France belonged to Bengt and Mette Sundstrøm, who went bankrupt with Lauritz.com. Its sale to British businessman Neil Utley was completed after more than three years of efforts, and the price was initially kept secret. DR has now obtained the figure from official French court records.
According to DR, the court in the French town of Draguignan approved the transfer of the estate’s owning company to Utley in a ruling dated July 23, 2026. The price was 11.213 million euros, or just under 84 million kroner. The property includes more than 50 hectares of vineyards and a main building of over 1,000 square meters.
That is less than a third of the value the couple themselves had attached to the estate. DR notes that the accounts of Bengt Sundstrøm’s property company priced Vignelaure at 272 million kroner in 2024. The same accounts stated that management might have to accept a lower sale price.
Little left for former customers
The sale matters for former Lauritz.com customers still owed money from the bankruptcy. DR reports that the estate was pledged as security for a loan of 10 million euros, and that several other creditors rank ahead of the customers. On that basis, DR concludes that no surplus is expected for them.
The scale of the outstanding claims has been documented since the collapse. DR cites reporting by Finans from September 2023, which recorded claims of 164 million kroner in the Lauritz.com bankruptcy estate, spread across 3,464 customers at that time. CPH Post has reported that claims against the estate later reached 185 million kroner, and that the wine estate had been used as collateral for Lauritz bondholders.
Mette Sundstrøm commented on the sale to Finans, calling the farewell to Vignelaure a sad moment and describing the estate as the couple’s heart project. She added that the sales process was long because the French and global wine market has been in a marked crisis for three years, driven by falling consumption. She did not want to comment on the price.
The timing follows a court-run process in France. DR reports that the company owning the estate entered reconstruction late in 2025 as its cash reserves ran low, and a French lawyer was appointed to handle the sale. A bidding round had a deadline in February 2026, with two bidders, and Utley prevailed.
Bengt Sundstrøm told DR he had no comment on the sale price, and the two bankruptcy lawyers handling the couple’s estates also declined to comment. The wider case remains unresolved. TV 2 reported in November 2024 that the trustees filed a damages claim of 26.6 million kroner against the former Lauritz.com management, including the Sundstrøms, a claim that is disputed.
