Court backs pub loan deal

ACC BANK took a 30 per cent cut on a loan secured against a high-profile pub in a settlement backed by the High Court yesterday.

The court approved a settlement between Birchport Ltd, owner of Dublin's Ocean Bar, and its creditors. The company went into examinership last month, giving it court protection from its creditors, as it was having difficulty meeting repayments.

Under the deal's terms, Birchport will pay ACC €950,000 over 15 years from next month in settlement of a €1.377 million debt that the bank had secured against the lease that the company held on the property.

The balance of the loan will be treated as unsecured, and the bank will be paid 10 per cent of this sum, which is what all the company's unsecured creditors will receive.

The settlement, or scheme of arrangement, was agreed between the company's examiner, accountant Kieran McCarthy, and the company's creditors.

Graham Kenny, of Dublin solicitors Lyons Kenny, who advised Birchport, said afterwards that the case sets terms that will allow companies placed in examinership to come through the process and begin trading profitably again.

The Ocean Bar lease was originally valued at €1.4 million. The bank's valuer placed it at €950,000.