Dunnes ordered to pay €20m to developer

Dunnes Stores has been ordered to pay about €20m due to a company which built a shopping centre in which the chain agreed to be the anchor tenant.

At the High Court, Mr Justice Peter Kelly dismissed a bid by Dunnes to set aside an arbitrator’s award for €20.2m arising out of an agreement between the supermarket owners and Holtglen Ltd to build the Ferrybank Shopping Centre in Kilkenny. The centre was completed in Aug 2009.

Dunnes had instituted arbitration proceedings claiming breaches of a development agreement by Holtglen which in turn counterclaimed for payment.