The fallout from the 2008 crash often seems like a saga without end. But one of the final acts is fast approaching, with the closure in December of the National Asset Management Agency (Nama). Now is the time for Nama to finish any unfinished business.
Recent Companies Office filings from Mick Bailey’s Bovale Developments suggest it has become one of the last big debtors to leave the State “bad bank”. All 10 charges over Bovale assets in favour of National Asset Loan Management, a Nama division, were satisfied in recent days. About the same time, new charges over Bovale were registered in favour of Eamon Waters’ Sretaw and associated entity Bladehaven.
Nama out, Sretaw in. But Bailey had no comment on the deal when asked.
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Sretaw, which didn’t engage when contacted, has deep reserves. The company emerged from the €1.4 billion sale in 2021 of Beauparc, owner of the Panda and Greenstar waste groups, to Macquarie of Australia. This put Waters in a strong position to make deals. As its website states, Sretaw “are now seeking to invest in well-run companies with sound business models”.
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If the detailed terms remain unclear, there is still something of the inevitable about it. Bovale’s unlimited status means it is not required to file accounts publicly. However, a KPMG audit report from one year ago stated that Nama loan facilities had expired and were not formally renewed. Still, the directors were in “ongoing discussions” with Nama. Such talks now appear to have reached their conclusion.
All of this follows Bailey’s resumption of full control in Bovale last December. His return to the board at that time came after a decade-long hiatus, which began when his seven-year disqualification as a director took effect in 2014. That followed a damning High Court ruling against him and his brother, Tom Bailey.
Nama once had 5,000 borrowers and loans with a €32 billion discounted value. Now the end finally beckons. In sporting terms, this was neither sprint, marathon nor triathlon. Ultra-triathlon might come near it, perhaps. Exhausting, certainly, and costly.
