Royal Bank of Scotland subsidiary Ulster Bank has made a new move to recoup losses on loans made to Irish investor Sean Dunne during the Celtic Tiger era.
The bank has called in receivers at PwC on a clutch of assets that include the head office of state-owned bank AIB in the Ballsbridge area of Dublin.
Property developer Dunne bought the four blocks at the front of AIB Bankcentre in 2006 for around €200m, using funding from Ulster Bank and Irish Nationwide.
AIB is currently relocating staff from other Dublin sites to Bankcentre as part of its cost-cutting drive.
The portfolio of former Dunne assets now in the hands of PwC also includes a Dublin retail strip and small joint ventures with fellow Irish property investor Sean Mulryan.
PwC is focusing on managing the assets ahead of a sale, with Bankcentre likely to attract the most interest.
Ulster Bank was a key backer of Dunne during the boom, leading the syndicate of lenders that financed his €400m acquisition of the Jurys and Berkeley Court hotels in Ballsbridge in 2005.
But Dunne’s plans for a major redevelopment of the hotels failed as the market turned, leading to significant losses.
The lending syndicate took control of the hotels from companies linked to Dunne last month.
Last year, Ireland’s National Asset Management Agency appointed a receiver to properties in Dunne’s DCD Group over loans totalling around €350m.
Dunne, who was one of Ireland’s most successful developers, is now pursuing new business interests in the US, according to press reports.
julia.cahill@estatesgazette.com
