CBRE Dunne case settles

A dispute between CBRE and Irish property tycoon Sean Dunne over €1.5m (£896,500) of allegedly unpaid fees has settled. As the trial of the dispute at the Irish Commercial Court entered its fourth day this morning, all allegations made against CBRE by Dunne were formally withdrawn and all outstanding fees due to CBRE are to be paid. The dispute related to Dunne’s €130m acquisition of Irish Life’s Hume House office block on Northumberland Road, Dublin, in 2006. The acquisition involved an asset swap, whereby Dunne exchanged his Riverside IV office scheme, at Sir John Rogerson’s Quay in Dublin’s Docks area, for Hume House. In 2008, CBRE lodged a claim for payment of the allegedly unpaid fees on the deal while Dunne issued a counter-claim seeking €35m in damages from CBRE. Dunne alleged that the agent had failed to inform him that the closest competing bid for Hume House was €102m and that its true value was between €65m and €95m. Guy Hollis, managing director of CBRE in Ireland, said: “CBRE is delighted with the outcome of this settlement. All unfounded allegations have been withdrawn, which fully vindicates our position.”