CFI halt plans to buy Athlone centre

CFI, the corporate finance group has shelved plans to buy Athlone Town Centre for €345m due to the international credit crunch.

Turmoil in global financial markets sparked by the subprime crisis in the US means CFI will not attempt to complete the deal until 2008 when it expects the markets to return to more normal ways.

At the heart of the decision seems is the failure to raise €100m from private investors in time to put the deal to bed before the end of the current tax year. That failure was due to greater complexities in signing off on the new lending scheme.