THE NATIONAL Asset Management Agency (Nama) last night regained control of properties belonging to developers Ray and Danny Grehan after the pair failed to repay a €650 million debt.
A spokesman for Nama confirmed that Michael McAteer and Paul McCann of Grant Thornton had been reappointed as the statutory receivers to the property assets owned by the Grehans and their company, Glenkerrin.
He said this decision was taken following the Grehans’ “failure to meet the terms for the repayment of outstanding loans” to the State loans agency.
Nama will also proceed on Tuesday next week to seek court approval for the appointment of an administrator to take control of properties in the UK owned by the Grehans.
It is understood that Nama will seek to appoint a representative from the Grant Thornton accounting firm in the UK to the role of administrator.
Just under half of Glenkerrin’s assets are in the UK. It has rental income of about €11 million in the UK, a potentially valuable site in Canary Wharf, a shopping development in Ealing Broadway in west London, and the Crowne Plaza hotel in Shoreditch.
Their Irish assets include the site of the former veterinary college in Ballsbridge, the Grange apartments in Blackrock and Glenroyal Hotel in Maynooth.
Last week, Nama took the unusual step of asking the statutory receivers here to stand down on Friday at midnight when control of the properties was returned to Glenkerrin and the Grehans.
Nama asked the receivers to stand down on legal advice after receiving a request from the Grehans for further time to consider their options.
The agency issued a new demand for the repayment of the loans on Saturday – allowing the Grehan brothers until the close of business yesterday – giving them just one working day to repay the €650 million debt.
Once this deadline expired, Nama met with its legal and insolvency advisers to consider its next course of action. The statutory receivers were reappointed around 9pm.
It is understood that Nama received correspondence yesterday from the Grehans, who were expected to seek an extension on the repayment to facilitate the purchase of the loans from Nama by an investment fund.
It now remains to be seen if the Grehans pursue a legal action here to try to regain control of their property assets.
No comment was available from the Grehans last night.
The Grehans had held discussions with the Dublin-based Incisive Capital Management about the purchase of Glenkerrin’s debts by an investment fund.
Nama appointed receivers after the Grehans failed to meet the terms agreed in a memorandum of understanding signed with the State agency in December 2010 following approval of their business plan.
