Treasury urges Government to appoint mediator in row

Treasury Holdings has called on the Government to appoint an independent mediator to unlock value for the taxpayer by securing the sale of its Nama-based loans.

The property development company, which is challenging via the High Court Nama’s move to appoint joint receivers to a number of its assets in a bid to reclaim over €1bn in outstanding loans, said it is aware of the existence of major international investors “currently interested in paying excellent prices for portfolios of loans such as ours”.

Such a development would provide a “vastly superior” outcome than the alternative route of litigation, Treasury said.

Managing director John Bruder said the company is confident of winning the court case against Nama but doesn’t want to spend a “huge amount of time and resources in the Four Courts”.

The company said in a statement: “We want to work with Nama, and any third-party negotiator, to secure the best deal available from one of these investors, which will keep the expertise available within this company intact and facilitate foreign direct investment.

“We are open to any alternative route, involving mediation or third-party negotiation, in order to end this process quickly.”

Treasury said it always wanted to continue to work with Nama to maximise the return for its loans, and to manage and develop its asset portfolio “for the benefit of the Irish economy and tax-payer”.

The company claimed it has traditionally been “exceptionally co-operative” with Nama and that a mutually beneficial relationship can be retained “if we can find a way to end the current impasse”.

Nama declined to comment on the matter.