Gay Byrne property syndicate moves to refinance loan

Television presenter Gay Byrne and pharmaceutical entrepreneur Seamus Mulligan have reached an agreement with Deutsche Bank that will see the two

men refinance a multimillion loan owed to the investment bank over the next three months.

The two had been forced to seek an injunction in the High Court on September 19th against the bank on behalf of the Conduit Partnership, which owns a prime building in Mayfair in London that is the headquarters of fashion brand Moschino.

Injunction sought

The injunction was sought by Conduit after Deutsche Bank, which acquired a loan relating to the building from the former

Anglo Irish Bank

, issued demand letters seeking repayment. The loan which is thought to be between €5 million and €8 million has always performed since it was first granted 14 years ago. The value of the building this loan is secured on is a multiple of its debts. However, the terms of the loan to Conduit state it was on a low interest-only rate as was commonly offered by banks before the financial crash.

This may be the reason why Deutsche Bank moved to call it in, in order to prompt the building’s shareholders to refinance it elsewhere. The shareholders in Conduit are understood to dispute the bank’s decision.

Fitzwilliam Loan Management, Deutsche's agents in Dublin, are working with it on managing its Irish interests. The directors of FLM are Frank Colgan and Brian Linnane who are also directors of Alanis Capital, which specialised in property syndicates during the boom.

Increased stake

The Conduit Partnership was put together by

Quinlan Private

, a property investment company founded by

Derek Quinlan

. Originally it had half a dozen members including

Pat Kenny

, the broadcaster, senior lawyers and other professionals. Mr Mulligan is understood to have bought out other investors, increasing his stake to 80 per cent versus Mr Byrne who holds about 20 per cent.

A spokesman for Conduit confirmed that its owners had sought and obtained an injunction against Deutsche Bank, but declined to comment further. A spokesman for Mr Mulligan also declined to comment. Deutsche Bank has not commented on the matter.