Anthony and Gregory Alken seek to stop sell-off

Two brothers want to stop a company which took over multimillion-euro property investment loans they had with Ulster Bank from enforcing repayment by selling off their secured assets.

Anthony and Gregory Alken, who owned and operated the Febvre wine-importing business until they lost control in 2014, had loans from Ulster Bank totalling around €21m.

They have asked the Commercial Court for a number of injunctions and declarations, including that the company which acquired their loans, Seaconview Ltd, be prevented from acting as assignee of the Ulster Bank facilities in a manner which is inconsistent with the terms of an agreement that there would be no recourse to their secured assets.

They also want a declaration that Seaconview cannot demand or require payment of any amount under the original loan agreement and cannot demand an amount in excess of what Ulster Bank was entitled to.

They want a declaration that any enforcement action by Seaconview, including appointment of receivers over their assets, based on any demand in excess of what the bank had been entitled to, is unlawful and invalid.

The brothers say Ulster Bank told them to address their indebtedness in 2014 and offered to repay in full by 2019-20. The bank instead asked them to refinance the loans themselves or sell certain assets.

Mr Justice John Hedigan admitted the case to the Commercial Court list on consent between the parties.