Print baron Michael Hannan scores second $13 million buyer on Woollahra trophy

Printing magnate Michael Hannan has proved two times lucky on the sale of his Woollahra trophy home, securing a second buyer at $13 million just months after controversial former lawyer Sevag Chalabian pulled out of buying it.

Sources say the latest buyers are former mining chief and restaurateur Brendan McPherson and his wife Rowena, who recently sold their nearby Victorian Italianate mansion Icilus for about $13.5 million.

Mr Hannan’s successful sale of the family home – previously owned by the Packer family – comes just four months after Mr Chalabian entered negotiations to buy the Hannan family’s Rosemont Avenue home “on behalf of a client”.

A week after Mr Chalabian lodged buyer interest the Australian Federal Police swooped on those allegedly involved in a $165 million tax fraud, in which Mr Chalabian was allegedly implicated.

Mr Chalabian, who handed in his practicing certificate in June, was accused in court documents of knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime from a major tax fraud after he put $24 million in blackmail funds through his law firms’ trust account.

Mr Chalabian’s mystery buyer of the Hannan family home never completed the purchase through another lawyer, and instead the property was expected to hit the market early next year.

Ben Collier, of The Agency, who sold the McPherson’s nearby Victorian Italianate home on Ocean Street, is believed to have negotiated the Hannan sale to the McPhersons, but declined to comment when approached for this story.

The buyers of the McPhersons lavishly renovated mansion was recently revealed as former young rich lister and Laser Clinics founder Alistair Champion and his wife Kate MacIvor.

Mr Hannan, who is chairman of the family’s IPMG publishing group, has owned the Rosemont Avenue property since 2010 when he bought it from the Packer family for $8.5 million. 

• Related: Alistair Champion buys $13.5 million Woollahra home
• Related: Woollahra renovation that takes luxury to a new level
• Related: Sevag Chalabian opts out of $13 million Woollahra deal