Jacko ranch foreclosure auction off

3:03pm Tuesday 13th May 2008

A foreclosure auction for Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch was cancelled after an investment company bought the loan.

Colony Capital spokeswoman Caroline Luz said the loan purchase was recently made by Colony and the auction was off, the Los Angeles Times said.

In a statement released on Sunday by a Jackson spokesman who identified himself as B Michael, the singer said he was "pleased with recent developments involving Neverland Ranch ... that would allow me to focus on the future".

Jackson had gone into default on the £12 million he owes on the 2,500-acre spread in Santa Barbara County, California.

He has struggled to pay his debts in recent years after his financial empire crumbled following his arrest in 2003 on child molestation charges. A jury later acquitted him and he has not lived at Neverland for the past two years.

Jackson's lawyer Londell McMillan, would not comment.

Jackson bought the property in 1988 and turned it into a miniature amusement park with rides, including a merry-go-round, Ferris wheel and rollercoaster, and a zoo.

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