British property group Hammerson and Germany’s Allianz Real Estate have been chosen as the preferred bidders for NAMA's Project Jewel portfolio with a joint offer worth €1.85bn - which is at the higher end of recent speculation, and a near 30% discount to their par or nominal €2.6bn value of the loans.
Project Jewel includes loans connected to Chartered Land, one of Nama’s largest debtors - including its loans associated with Dundrum Town Centre and 50% stakes in Dublin's Ilac Shopping Centre and the Pavilions in Swords.
This is NAMA's biggest transaction to date.
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Later in this week the Dáil Committee on Public Accounts will question NAMA officials over the sale of the agency's €1.6bn Project Eagle portfolio.
The sale of the loans to Cerberus is being investigated in both the UK and the US - members of Stormont's finance and personnel committee, which is carrying out its own investigation, will attend the hearing.
They are still hoping to learn why £7m which was connected to the sale was transferred to a bank account in the Isle of Man.
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Shares in Vodafone closed nearly 5% lower at 207p in London last night after confirmation that potential asset swap talks between the company and John Malone’s Liberty Global, had ended without agreement
One consequence of a possible deal was that Vodafone would have ended up controlling Liberty’s Irish assets including UPC – soon to be rebranded as Virgin - and TV3.
It’s reported the talks stalled over the value of Liberty’s Virgin Media operations in the UK and each company’s operations in Germany.
Liberty owner John Malone had characterised the talks as a tennis match of ideas but both players have now walked off the court.
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The Government's much talked about capital investment plan will be announced this afternoon.
A new rail link from Dublin city centre to the airport and Swords - most probably a metro service - will be the centrepiece of the announcement.
Almost €30 billion in spending up to 2022 will be unveiled but some of these funds such as those earmarked for housing have already been announced.
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Retail sales were 9.3% higher in Ireland, compared to the same period last year, according to figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
The report also shows that retail sale volumes dropped by 4% between July and August.
When the impact of higher car sales is taken out, sales are up by 7.6%.
