Developer Johnny Ronan is on the verge of buying out his loans of €300 million from the National Asset Management Agency (Nama) with the financial backing of Colony Capital, a $20 billion US investment fund.
Colony is best known in Ireland for supporting developer Paddy McKillen when he refinanced his loans with it, including his investment in the Maybourne Hotel Group in London, from the former Anglo Irish Bank.
Talks have been going on between Mr Ronan and Nama over his personal and company debts since last March. He is understood to have submitted an indicative offer backed by Colony to Nama to buy out his entire private property portfolio at par.
The calculation of par value because of the complexity of his company borrowings and the range of his assets is the subject of negotiations.
Mr Ronan is now considered very close to where he needs to be, and a deal could be completed within weeks. British plc Development Securities is also believed to be involved in the refinancing but in a relatively minor way versus Colony.
The assets of Mr Ronan which are being refinanced include the Bewley's building on Grafton Street, prime office blocks such as Connaught House in Dublin 4, a mansion on Burlington Road and a significant development portfolio.
Colony is already working on various projects with Mr Ronan in Ireland. It was the biggest under of a consortium including Mr Ronan, Mr McKillen and Development Securities that bought a development site on Burlington Road in Dublin 4 for €40.5 million.
Colony was also an underbidder with Mr Ronan and Development Securities in trying to acquire the 400-acre Cherrywood Business Park and adjoining lands earlier this year.
Mr Ronan, a cofounder of Treasury Holdings, is an experienced developer in Ireland, the UK and China. With Treasury he developed the Convention Centre Dublin and Google's European headquarters and was central in the master planning of the development of Battersea Power Station in London.
Personal assets
His personal assets, however, are controlled by the Ronan Group and have a rent roll in the tens of millions of euro from various blue-chip clients including Nama itself.
Mr Ronan will partner with Colony on unlocking the development potential of some of his assets once he exits Nama. These include strategic residential and mixed-use sites in Cabinteely, Enniskerry, Delgany and Appian Way, Dublin 4.
The Ulysses, a 180 foot long luxury yacht which is worth over €25 million and owned by a trust associated with Mr Ronan, will not be affected by the deal as debts related to this asset are not owed to Nama.
Mr Ronan set up this trust before Nama’s foundation in 2010, and as it is in a trust he does not control it. It is rented out for €250,000 a week.
Both Colony and Nama declined to comment on the status of any talks. Mr Ronan did not respond to requests for comment.
