Dunne consents to judgments of €185m - The Irish Times - Sat, Mar 10, 2012

DEVELOPER SEÁN Dunne has consented at the Commercial Court to orders requiring him pay some €185 million to Nama.

The sum arises from loans made to him personally and from his guarantees over other loans to various companies.

Receivers appointed in November over assets of Mr Dunne and the companies had realised some €25,000 up to last month, it was stated in court documents. Any further sums realised would also be applied to the credit of Mr Dunne, Nama said.

Among the assets over which receivers have been appointed are Hume House, Pembroke Road, Dublin; penthouse apartments at Mountbrook, Mount Merrion, Dublin; apartments at Hollybrook, Brighton Road, Foxrock, Dublin; apartments at Gateway Place and Gateway Crescent, Ballymun, Dublin; and properties at North Wall Quay, Dublin and Riverside IV, Grand Canal Docks, Dublin.

On the application of James Doherty, for Nama, and on foot of a written consent from Mr Dunne provided through his lawyers, Mr Justice Peter Kelly yesterday entered summary judgment in the amount of €185,299,627. He also granted Nama liberty to apply to enforce the judgment if necessary.

The judgment sum is made up of about €32 million concerning personal loans to Mr Dunne and guarantees provided by him over other loans.

Mr Dunne was not in court for the brief hearing, and Nama said all documents had been delivered to Merrion Square, Dublin 2, the last address for Mr Dunne notified to the agency. In more recent correspondence, Nama said it had “referenced” an address c/o Greenwich Avenue, Greenwich, Connecticut, US.

The nine separate loan facilities were made by Bank of Ireland, Irish Nationwide Building Society and Allied Irish Banks on dates from 2005 onwards to Mr Dunne personally and various companies.

Mr Dunne provided guarantees related to loans to various Mountbrook Companies, DCD Builders Ltd and Waterside Kilcock property Company Ltd. Nama acquired the loans in July 2010 and initiated the court proceedings after demands for repayment issued in July 2011 last were not met.

Nama made efforts to serve Mr Dunne personally with the proceedings before he was served on December 22nd last, counsel said. That service did not go as planned as Mr Dunne was served with original documents and not copies, but Mr Dunne later returned the originals, he said.

Mr Justice Kelly said he was satisfied to transfer the proceedings to the Commercial Court and to enter summary judgment. He found there was no culpable delay by Nama in bringing the case, and any defect in service had been cured by the entry of an appearance on behalf of Mr Dunne.

In court papers, Nama outlined its dealings with Mr Dunne since July 2010 when it informed him it had acquired his loans and he would have to submit a business plan. Seán Dunne/Mountbrook Group did this in October 2010, and it was reviewed by Nama Portfolio Management and accountants Farrell Grant Sparks.

On December 2nd, 2010, Mr Dunne confirmed details previously provided to Nama over transfers of assets out of the Mountbrook Group, Nama said. On December 8th, 2010, it informed Mr Dunne that while his business plan had been rejected, it would consider supporting the group if Mr Dunne entered discussions on a revised business plan.

Nama said it told Mr Dunne it had to have full details of his asset position and asked him to complete a statement of affairs. A solicitor for Mr Dunne later asked Nama for the basis upon which such information was being sought. Nama replied and a statement of affairs was provided on December 17th, 2010.

In January 2011, Nama looked for more information from Mr Dunne concerning the D4 hotel properties in Ballsbridge and about the asset position of persons connected to Mr Dunne. In February 2011, Nama raised queries about information provided and about press commentary concerning Mr Dunne. Replies to those queries were received.

In March 2011, Nama informed Mr Dunne the revised business plan was not acceptable for reasons outlined and set out the context for its requests about his asset position. Mr Dunne provided additional information concerning the business plan and there was correspondence later concerning lettings and sales of assets within the Mountbrook portfolio over which Nama holds security.

Nama informed Mr Dunne in July 2011 it had decided to issue demands for repayment and that judgment would be sought against him after the appointment of receivers. Demands were issued but were not paid.

Nama said receivers had achieved a large commercial letting of one property, while the sale of two properties had been approved. A receiver had been appointed over a site in Kilcock.

Mr Dunne had on January 4th last written to Nama stating he had no defence to the claim for judgment and did not intend to contest it. After further correspondence, an appearance was entered on behalf of Mr Dunne on February 24th.

Dunne deal on D4 tower saw empire begin to wobble 

SEÁN DUNNE was born in Tullow, Co Carlow, in 1955. He trained as a surveyor before going into property development.

His first major development was St Helen’s Wood in Booterstown in the late 1980s. He went on to develop St Raphael’s Manor in Celbridge, Co Kildare, and Hollybrook in Foxrock.

Overseas properties included a hotel and apartments in South Africa, some of which were bought by Irish investors.

In 2005 Dunne paid €54 million an acre for a Ballsbridge site occupied by the Jury’s and Berkeley Court hotels. He put €125 million of his money into the seven-acre site, and a group of financial institutions, led by Ulster Bank, lent him the balance.A year later, he paid €207 million for blocks at AIB Bankcentre in Ballsbridge.

It is believed that Dunne was also the purchaser of Ireland’s most expensive house in 2005. Walford, on Shrewsbury Road, cost €58 million. While the identity of the buyer was not revealed, the house’s beneficial owner was Dunne’s second wife Gayle Killilea. It was put up for sale in 2010 for €15 million.

He lodged an application with Dublin City Council in 2007 to build a 37-storey tower on the Ballsbridge hotel site.

The plan was rejected in January 2009 by An Bord Pleanála and the hotels were reopened under the D4 brand.

In February 2010, Companies Office documents showed that the banks behind his purchase of the property had taken a majority stake in it. But it is understood that the deal was structured in such a way that Dunne retained an interest in the properties, equivalent to 30 per cent.

That July Nama appointed receivers to various properties owned by Dunne.

He also ran into trouble in the US when planners took issue with his house renovation.

Last September, Dunne got permission to redevelop the Ballsbridge hotels but said it would be at least five years before work started.

In January, the syndicate of banks that lent money to Dunne to buy the hotels settled court proceedings to get possession of those properties. The syndicate argued he owed them more than €259 million. JOANNE HUNT

via irishtimes.com

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