Negotiations for the sale of London's Millennium Dome seemed to be in renewed doubt last night as the Irish backers of the Legacy consortium accused the British government of trying to change the terms of the £125 million sterling (#196 million) deal.
Legacy, led by the British Labour Party donor Robert Bourne, was selected as preferred bidder last November after negotiations between the government and Japan's Nomura International bank broke down.
Mr Richard Barrett, co-owner of Treasury Holdings, said: "We have no problem sticking by the terms of the preferred bidder letter. If there are difficulties it is perhaps because people aren't willing to stick by what they wrote."
Negotiations have become increasingly fraught recently with government officials claiming Mr Barrett stormed out of one meeting on Thursday. Mr Barrett played down the incident as "the cut and thrust of deal making."
But Treasury Holdings officials privately express frustration that having, as they claim, met the terms of the preferred bidder letter, the government has still not awarded the contract.
The company has also been hurt by the negative publicity in sections of the British media which have depicted the Irish duo as buccaneers and speculators unfit to manage a prime piece of London real estate.
Treasury, which has ridden the recent property boom in Ireland, has a £1 billion (#1.3 billion) portfolio of Irish properties and has linked with GE Capital and Deutsche Bank in recent deals.
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