Oaktree, a private equity firm based in Los Angeles, has been selected as the preferred bidder for €4.7bn worth of NAMA loans.

The group has secured the Project Ruby and Project Emerald portfolios for a discount price thought to be in the region of €800m, fending off competition from other final bidders Cerberus and Lone Star.

Project Emerald comprises loans of €2.5bn from 16 borrowers, secured against 236 properties. The majority of these are commercial properties, but over one-fifth are residential.

Project Ruby comprises loans of €2.2bn from 15 borrowers, secured against 253 properties. Some 11% of these are residential.

In 2015, Oaktree won approval – alongside NAMA and the Bennett Group construction firm – for a €450m development that will deliver 42,500 square metres of offices to Dublin's Docklands.

Oaktree is also developing Airbnb's new European headquarters on Hanover Quay.