Ireland’s National Asset Management Agency is in talks with the Pears Group over the future of a €600m (£485.6m) loan portfolio.
The private family firm has entered negotiations with the so-called bad bank after a deal to sell the portfolio of loans, extended to property entrepreneur Cyril Dennis, to Orion Capital Managers fell through in June.
The talks come after Pears Group teamed up with Development Securities to complete the purchase of a collection of around 40 retail and residential properties known as the Chrome portfolio from Nama for £103m.
However, it is understood that Nama is still deciding whether to plough ahead with a sale of the loans, which are secured against brownfield development sites in the UK and Europe, or hold on to the portfolio and work on improving the value of the underlying assets.
A final decision on the portfolio, which first came to the market more than a year ago, is expected in the next few weeks.
Nama had announced plans to step up its disposal of non-performing loan portfolios (NPL) this year as it continues to deleverage the €71bn (£59bn) of debt it manages.
In January, it appointed a panel of advisers to work on European and US deals, and its 2012 strategy, released in February, confirmed that selling loans was one of its priorities for the year ahead.
Nama also confirmed that it would offer vendor financing to facilitate the NPL sales, but despite banks such as Lloyds Banking Group and Allied Irish Bank ploughing ahead with the sales of Irish loan portfolios, Nama has not brought any new debt packages to the market.
In recent weeks the agency has been hit by a spate of resignations, including that of lending and corporate finance team leader Selina Dicker.
Dicker, who had been at the agency for two years before her departure in August, was involved in its plans to sell non-performing loan portfolios.
Senior asset manager Ronan Fox and portfolio asset manager Ed Cook have also left Nama.
CBRE is advising Nama.
