Another well-known businessman has sought the protection of the High Court after a bank attempted to seize control of a number of properties connected to him and his companies arising from outstanding loans.
Dublin hotelier Hugh O'Regan has secured court protection for three of his companies – Thomas Read Holdings, Dashaven and Clubko – after Anglo Irish Bank sought to take control of properties connected to the businessman and his companies.
The State-owned bank sought control of the properties in relation to multimillion euro loans to Mr O'Regan's companies.
Thomas Read Holdings, which bears the name of the Dublin pub chain Mr O'Regan sold in 2005, is a holding company for a number of his companies. One of the firm's subsidiaries, which falls outside the court's protection, operates the Morrison Hotel in Dublin.
Dashaven is redeveloping the Kilternan hotel and sports club in south Co Dublin, which Mr O'Regan bought in 2001 for €12.7 million. By 2007 almost €80 million had been spent on the project.
Clubko owns No 8 St Stephen's Green in Dublin, the former home of the Hibernian United Services Club which Mr O'Regan purchased for €10 million in 2003.
Kieran Wallace of KPMG was appointed interim examiner to the three companies at a special court sitting before Mr Justice Vivian Lavan on Sunday morning. A hearing of the application to confirm Mr Wallace as examiner will be heard by Mr Justice Brian McGovern tomorrow.
The application for court protection was made on Sunday after Anglo Irish sought to take control of a number of properties associated with Mr O'Regan and his companies, Thomas Read Holdings and Clubko, over the bank's loans.
Thomas Read Holdings also owns a property on Parliament Street in Dublin city centre. If the appointment of an examiner is confirmed, it will give the companies breathing space of 100 days.
Mr O'Regan, who declined to comment when contacted by The Irish Times, also has large loans with Irish Nationwide on the Kilternan project as illustrated by loan charges which have been registered on the property.
Better known as a publican, Mr O'Regan founded the Thomas Read pub group before selling his interest to a consortium including property developer Paddy Kelly and his son Simon. The chain since collapsed due to its large borrowings. Mr O'Regan and his companies acted as landlords to several properties in which the Thomas Read pubs were tenants.
Mr O'Regan is one of a number of businessmen who have turned to the court for protection from their debts arising from bank threats to recover unpaid loans.
The High Court will rule on Friday whether to extend court protection to the Zoe group of companies controlled by developer Liam Carroll, which owes eight banks €1.27 billion.
Mr Justice Peter Kelly will decide on Friday whether to appoint an examiner to six of his companies which are part of the Zoe Developments group. The judge must conclude that the companies have a reasonable prospect of survival. Yesterday he expressed concerns about the group's proposed rescue plan.
The plan is dependent on the banks providing the group with "breathing space" for three years.
Mr Justice Kelly said the proposal includes "pouring" money into developments over the next three years when the office space market was already "grossly oversupplied" and the residential market was "flat as a pancake". The plan recommended the group's existing senior management remain in place. "The captains who navigated the ship on to the rocks are to remain in charge."
The judge also said there were an "extraordinary" number of directorships among the principals behind the companies and the court had to deal with "a maze, a spider's web" of companies. Mr Carroll's companies sought court protection on July 17th after Dutch-owned ACCBank threatened to collapse the group to recover loans of €131 million and unpaid interest and loan arrears of almost €5 million. The group's other banks support the rescue plan.