Nama extends £857m loan deadline

THE NATIONAL Asset Management Agency and other lenders have agreed to extend the deadline for payment on an £857 million loan relating to the Citi Tower building in London’s Canary Wharf. The high-profile building is jointly owned by Irish financier Derek Quinlan and Glenn Maud’s Propinvest Group in the United Kingdom.

An extension to the year end has been agreed to enable a restructuring plan to be worked out.

A Nama spokesman said yesterday that the agency’s focus was on recovering loans relating to the property on behalf of taxpayers.

“We are continuing to explore all options in that regard,” he added.

The original loan that financed the £1.1 billion purchase of the building in 2007 matured in November 2009.

Nama has a near 30 per cent interest in the tower after Mr Quinlan’s loans were transferred to the agency. The agency and the other lenders sought to sell the building last year.

They appointed Jones Lang LaSalle in London to market the property but it was withdrawn in September.

According to a report in the UK publication Property Week,the building was valued at £910 million in June 2011.

However, there is debt and other liabilities of more than £1.4 billion secured against it, which has hampered attempts to sell it or refinance or restructure the debt.

Citi occupies the property on a lease that expires in 2037. It pays £57.6 million a year and the rent is subject to an “uplift” in October 2015.

In April 2011, Jones Lang LaSalle indicated that prospective purchasers could expect the annual income return to reach nearly £70 million within 10 years and more than £100 million within 20 years.

The building was bought from the Royal Bank of Scotland in 2007 for £1.1 billion.

A group of banks lent £875 million of senior debt against the building.

The tower comprises 1.2 million sq ft of office and retail space and is situated at the heart of Canary Wharf. It is one of the three tallest occupied buildings in Britain and was completed in 2002.