Nama to sell €300m loans belonging to O’Callaghan

Nama is selling loans with a value of €300m belonging to Cork property developer Owen O’Callaghan, reports claim.

The loans relate to a number of properties in the Cork region, including the Mahon Retail Park; a city centre retail development in Opera Lane and a number of properties in Half Moon Street, according to the Sunday Independent.

They are performing, with 95% of the underlying properties rented out to tenants, according to the report. In a statement the developer said he views Nama’s decision to put the loan portfolio on the market “very positively”.

“These loans have always been, and are, fully performing and the suite of assets covered by the loans which are now for sale are among the best performing retail and commercial assets in the country,” the newspaper reported Mr O’Callaghan as saying. “We had no discretion in this matter because of legislation enacted following the collapse of the Irish banks which meant that all commercial development loans relating to these banks now reside in Nama.

“The reality for businesses like ours and for many other businesses is that we have been effectively operating without Irish banks for several years since their collapse. That has been a huge inhibition on business development.

“The sale of these loans now means that there will be new sources of investment for our companies and we look forward to working with our new investors to maximise the commercial value of the assets in question.”

“We expect a lot of interest in this portfolio as the loans relate to premium assets in outstanding locations,” he said.