A sprawling estate has just been sold to an American billionaire for £80 million.

City AM has reported that Steve Schwarzman, the founder and chief executive of Blackstone, has bought the estate for a hefty pricetag.

The extravagant country house has around 2500 acres of grounds according to the report, as well as a series of cottages.

The house  and its 18th-century stable block and carriage house are both Grade II listed.

Since 1992, the Conholt Park estate, in Wiltshire, has been owned by a company belonging to the family of Paul van Vlissingen, an Anglo-Dutch businessman and philanthropist and was his home from 1994 until his death in 2006.

The area of Conholt itself is located in east Wiltshire and used to be a small village before it became the site of the estate.

Conholt is very close to the Hampshire border, and is about six miles northeast of Andover.

The sale to Schwarzman was made in a “personal capacity” with plans to restore the building.

The business focused newspaper wrote: “The purchase is understood to be personally important to Schwarzman, who as well as running the investment firm with $941bn of assets under management, is passionate about architecture and culturally significant buildings. 

“The oldest part of the estate was built in the late 17th century and subsequently expanded in the 18th and early 19th centuries.

“The riding school and stables were both built in the late 18th century and while the school was demolished, the L-shaped stables have remained standing and are, in their own right, Grade II listed. 

“The same cannot be said for all parts of the property, such as the covered swimming pool, built immediately north of the house in the late 1990s.”

A person close to Schwarzman told CityAM: “Steve has always been passionate about architecture and buildings of cultural significance and heritage. He is excited about the opportunity to restore Conholt Hall to its original state.”

News site Reuters also reported that the sale has kicked of the American billionaire’s UK “asset grab.”

The website reported:“That deal would have been agreed long before a recent collapse in sterling, prompted by Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s so-called mini-budget, which pushed the pound down to $1.07.

“But it’s exactly the kind of purchase that will make more sense the lower the pound goes."