Harcourt goes offshore ahead of Nama exit

Pat Doherty's Harcourt Developments, which this week made the chief executive of its Titanic Quarter in Belfast redundant, has also executed a Byzantine offshore corporate restructuring, according to some recent filings.

The developer, which says it is on course to exit Nama in 2016, was owned by Doherty and his seven children but now appears to be owned by an Isle of Man company.

On February 12th, the Harcourt shares of Doherty and his children were transferred to a Manx company called Marzocco. On the same day, Marzocco then transferred the shares to another Manx company, Almargen.

Doherty’s day’s work didn’t end there, however.

Before sundown on the 12th, Almargen transferred its shares to yet another Isle of Man company, Benissa, in a filing about "Benissa's offer to acquire the entire share capital".

Confused yet?

The Doherty clan appears not to have relinquished control, however.

Isle of Man office

A quick rummage in the Isle of Man’s company office reveals that the directors of Benissa are Doherty’s son, Nick, who is Harcourt’s finance director, and

Pat Power

, a long-time Doherty lieutenant and the group’s sales director.

As Harcourt’s taxpayer-owned Nama loans are rumoured to be coming up for sale, I asked Power if he would shed any light on the purpose of the offshore restructuring.

No joy.