Cantillon: Cerberus and the Northern Rock deal

It seems that there really is no such thing as bad publicity. Despite the controversy over the sale of the Project Eagle portfolio of loans linked to assets in Northern Ireland to Cerberus , and the range of inquiries into it, the UK government has decided to sell a massive pot of loans from Northern Rock to the US fund. The €13 billion sale was announced yesterday, leading chancellor George Osborne to talk of “profits” being returned to the taxpayer – though as in Ireland he is counting the gains that arise after the initial writedown, when the loans were taken on by a special asset recovery agency.

Nama has faced some flak over the the Project Eagle sale, though it is has strongly defended its position, pointing out the inquiries are in to the other side of the transaction. It subsequently installed Cerberus as preferred bidder for another portfolio of smaller loans in Project Arrow.

Cerberus’s role in relation to a £7.5 million “success” fee payment is at the centre of the Project Eagle controversy, though the US fund has denied any wrongdoing. The transfer of £6 million of this to an Isle of Man bank account, and allegations that Northern politicians and business figures were set to benefit from this, is at the heart of the investigations, including that being conducted by the high-powered UK National Crime Agency.

None of this appears to have caused any problem in the sale of the Northern Rock mortgage portfolio, known as Project Granite, to Cerberus, announced yesterday by Osborne. He claimed a £280 million profit over “book value” for the loans, some of which Cerberus will sell on to TSB to allow it increase its market position.

Commentators in Britain are also wondering what part of the Cerberus empire has been used to buy the UK loans. As revealed in this paper, Cerberus has a complex financial web of companies, many based in Ireland, which allow it to legally avoid paying much in the way of corporation tax. Could it be that its latest UK purchase will sit in this Irish-based structure?