ADMINISTRATORS have been appointed by Anglo Irish Bank, with the approval of the National Asset Management Agency (Nama), to a number of companies controlled by Liverpool property developers, who had up to £140 million of loans with the bank.
The decision to appoint Grant Thornton as administrators to projects controlled by developer Stephen Beetham and his father came after Anglo and Nama rejected a number of rescue plans.
However, the action is seen in London property circles – which is closely watching Nama’s every move – as evidence of the Irish agency “flexing its muscles”, according to trade magazine Property Week.
Three projects are subject to administration: the site of the Aldgate bus station in London on the fringes of the City which has planning permission for one million sq ft of offices; the Matrix building nearby and the completed 40-storey West Tower in Liverpool.
The debt held by the three companies involved – Minores Estates Ltd, Mapfield Properties and No. 9 Aldgate – which are owned by Mr Beetham and his father, Hugh Frost, has been transferred to Nama.
The completed Aldgate site was valued at £700 million at the height of the property boom. Mr Beetham had taken £90 million in borrowings, secured against the site, from Anglo to pay for it.
The Matrix building is fully let. One hundred and six apartments in the West Tower in Liverpool are understood to have been let, while 17 more have been sold. The building has 12,000sq ft of commercial space on its lower floors.
Interviewed by Property Week, Mr Beetham said: “We’ve been working with Anglo and Nama to come up with a deal that was acceptable for them and us.
“We put forward a business plan that ultimately wasn’t acceptable. But there is still a long way to go. I am not stepping back from the scheme. The administration is a process that Nama has to go through as it is a public body.”
Questioned by The Irish Times, a spokesman for Grant Thornton said: “The administrators are working with the directors of all three companies to gain a detailed knowledge of each site, which will lead to a realisation strategy in each case.”
However, he would not give an indication of how long it would take before decisions are taken about selling off the properties.
In its most recent accounts, filed early last month, Mr Beetham and Mr Frost’s parent company, the Beetham Organisation, said the group’s future was in the hands of creditors and that it had agreed “standstill” agreements with a number of them to get time to pay them back. In September 2008 accounts, it posted a loss of £45.3 million.
Their belief that the company could trade its way out of difficulties was not supported by auditors, Deloitte, who said: “The directors of the company and group have been unable to obtain and provide to us appropriate and sufficient evidence to support their assumptions. We have been unable to form a view as to the applicability of the going concern basis.”
The results then stated that Beetham had debt of £56.4 million due for repayment within a year, and £166.3 million beyond that.
One of the company’s other developments, the 52-storey Beetham Tower in Blackfriars in London has separately gone into administration. It is to be put on the market by CB Richard Ellis next week.
