Cerberus Capital Management has admitted that it knowingly took on the legal team employed by its former rival for the £4.4bn Project Eagle loan sale despite concerns from vendor Nama.
Cerberus was in front of the Committee for Public Accounts in Dublin this week to give evidence on the controversial sale of the portfolio in 2014.
Its rival for the portfolio, PIMCO, withdrew from the bidding process after Nama discovered that it was to employ Frank Cushnahan, a former adviser to the Irish bad bank, if it was successful in its bid.
Cerberus was subsequently successful in purchasing the portfolio, taking on law firm Brown Rudnick, which had been advising PIMCO, and agreeing to pay a £15m success fee in return for specialist research and a contact base of local stakeholders and politicians.
It was later alleged that Cushnahan was ultimately involved in helping Brown Rudnick in preparing bids. While Cerberus admits it knew of Nama’s concerns, it denies that it knew Cushnahan was being engaged by Tughans, a law firm Brown Rudnick had syndicated half of its business to.
Cerberus chief operating officer Mark Neporent told the committee that the information provided by Brown Rudnick and Tughans was ultimately not of high value and that it had sought reassurances from the legal firms that passing on the information was not illegal.
He said: “I am confident Cerberus made no improper or illegal payments and did not authorise any such payments on its behalf.”
>>> Click here to view a timeline of the Project Eagle saga
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