A landmark Swedish property bought for €285 million by Vico Capital, the investment company headed by embattled lawyer Brian O'Donnell, has been sold by a bank for a kroner, or around 10 cent.
Vico bought the Fatburen office block in Stockholm at the height of the property boom, but its Swedish lender, Aareal Bank, sold the building at a private auction last summer after an issue over repayments arose.
Vico is now understood to be seeking damages of €64 million from the bank, and has filed a case against Aareal in the Swedish courts.
In a statement to this newspaper, the bank said the claim was "unfounded", and denied claims in the Swedish press that the buyer of the Fatburen building was a subsidiary of the bank.
A spokesman for the bank said: "Aareal Bank redeemed company shares pledged in its favour by way of a private auction which took place at the end of June 2011.
"At the end of December, Aareal Bank was served with a suit from the former shareholder, Fatburen Investments AG, claiming compensation from the bank at the civil court in Stockholm for having redeemed the shares. Aareal Bank considers the asserted claim to be unfounded.
"The pledging of company shares is a usual collateral in the lending market. The realisation of such collateral by way of a private auction is also a customary procedure in Sweden. Aareal Bank does not hold any interest in the company which now holds the shares. Personnel overlaps between the two companies do not exist either."
Attempts to contact Vico were unsuccessful.
According to reports in Sweden, Vico had been in negotiations with Aareal to meet its loan obligations through the sale of part of the building, which is home to the Swedish tax authorities. Vico also said it would take legal action against estate agents Catella, which advised the bank on the sale.
In December, the High Court in Dublin ordered O'Donnell and his wife, Dr Mary Pat O'Donnell, and companies with which they are associated, to repay €71.5 million in property loans and guarantees to Bank of Ireland following litigation with the lender.
Vico and its associated companies had borrowings of €886 million in July 2010 and valued its properties in Ireland, Britain, the US and Sweden at more than €1 billion. Last week it was reported that Vico sold a landmark office block in Washington DC for $155 million (€118 million), $17.5 million less than it was bought for in 2008.
Monday, February 6, 2012
Swedish property bought for €285m by Irish lawyer sold for 10 cent
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