Top Irish investors caught in NAMA net
Published: 01 April, 2010
Ireland’s National Asset Management Agency has completed the transfer of its first tranche of toxic loans, and some key shopping centre investors will now have to justify how they plan to repay their debts.
NAMA, the government-owned ‘bad bank’ has taken over €16bn of loans from five institutions – Allied Irish Banks, Anglo Irish Bank, Bank of Ireland, Irish Nationwide and EBS – but it has only paid them €8.5bn, representing a 47 per cent discount to face value.
Further tranches will follow until NAMA has acquired the projected €81bn of toxic property loans that came close to destroying the Irish banking system. 58 per cent of the loans are secured against properties in Ireland, with another 38 per cent in the UK.
And reports in Ireland have identified the prominent property developers who are behind to the bad loans. The ‘NAMA Ten’ include:
- Joe O’Reilly, owner of Dundrum and Swords Pavilions in Dublin
- Liam Carroll who is involved with the regeneration of the Square at Tallaght
- Sean Mulryan, whose Ballymore was co-developer of the Whitewater shopping centre in Banbridge
- The Cosgrave brothers whose interests include the Westend retail park at Blanchardstown and the Liberty shopping centre in Romford
- Treasury Holdings, behind the redevelopment of Battersea Power Station in London
- Gerry Barrett, developer of Scotch Hall in Drogheda.
Borrowers whose loans have been acquired by NAMA will now have one month to submit a comprehensive business plan in accordance with NAMA’s template outlining how they propose to honour their loan commitments.
And NAMA chief executive Brendan McDonagh warned: “Where these plans are approved by NAMA, it will monitor the borrower’s subsequent performance to ensure they adhere to the targets contained in the approved business plans. Where these plans are not approved or not received, NAMA will take whatever actions it considers necessary to protect the interests of the taxpayer.”
