McInerney in Receivership

McInerney Homes, and a sister Company, McInerney Contracting, has been placed in receivership after the Supreme Court rejected the appeal to a previous High Court decision, InsolvencyJournal.ie reported. The High Court had previously refused to approve a proposed rescue plan, which the Court believed was unfairly skewed against the bank. McInerney Homes was placed into examinership and under High Court protection from their creditors last September. A syndicate of three banks, Anglo Irish Bank, Bank of Ireland, and KBC, are owed €113m by the Company.
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Ireland’s Department of Finance has warned the nationalised banks not to expect approval for big payoffs on redundancy deals for staff, the Irish Times reported. The banks were directed to draw up new plans based around pay rates on voluntary redundancy in the public sector and to prepare for a level of job cuts to reflect the sharp reduction in the size of the Irish banking sector.
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The National Asset Management Agency (Nama) set aside almost €1.5 billion last year to cover further write-downs on €71 billion of loans it had acquired from five banks, according to its annual report published today, the Irish Times reported. The agency made an operating profit of €305 million for the year, but impairment losses were €1.485 billion for the 12-month period. In the first quarter of 2011, Nama made an operating profit of €91 million.
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Superquinn Sale Set To Proceed

Superquinn’s proposed sale to Musgrave Group is set to proceed after a petition seeking to have the company put in examinership was withdrawn, the Irish Times reported. This morning, the High Court was informed the application by Superquinn for examinership was being withdrawn as a result of Musgrave, which intends to acquire the chain, announcing a €10 million fund is to be established to reimburse certain creditors of the company. The scheme is dependant on the sale of Superquinn to fellow retailers Musgrave going ahead.
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A €10 million fund is to be established to reimburse certain creditors of Superquinn, the supermarket chain which went into receivership last week, the Irish Times reported. The joint receivers of the company are expected to announce details of the scheme today. Only suppliers who are not covered by credit insurance will be covered by it. The scheme will be funded by Musgrave and indirectly through the banks, using money generated during the course of the receivership, and is contingent upon Musgrave’s purchase of Superquinn.
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Bank of Ireland has been saved from possible government control by a group of overseas institutional investors that has agreed to buy up to €1.12bn ($1.6bn) of the troubled lender’s shares, the Financial Times reported. Wilbur Ross, the US billionaire, a large Canadian firm and a number of US fund managers are thought to be among the investors that have committed to buy a stake of up to 37.3 per cent in the bank. The agreement came a day before the planned completion of a €1.9bn rights issue that could have pushed the government’s 36 per cent stake up to almost 70 per cent.
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Regulator Backs Bankruptcy Reform

Financial regulator Matthew Elderfield has repeated his call for further measures to be put in place to ensure bank balance sheets reflect underlying risks more accurately, the Irish Times reported. Speaking at the MacGill Summer School in Glenties, Co Donegal, this afternoon, Mr Elderfield said his office would require banks to ensure any potential impairment from future disposals "is recognised as fully and as early as possible". The regulator also backed continuing support for struggling mortgage holders and reform of bankruptcy laws.
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A number of food and drink companies owed money by Superquinn have said they could be facing cash flow difficulties within days, RTÉ News reported. Receivers have been appointed to the retailer, though a number of directors are reported to be planning an injunction to stop the receivership. Hundreds of suppliers are owed money by Superquinn- with some of the amounts running into millions of euro. Musgrave - which wants to buy Superquinn from the receivers - is finalising plans for a scheme to help suppliers experiencing losses as a result of the receivership.
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Receivers are to take control of housebuilder McInerney on behalf of three banks owed €113 million after the Supreme Court yesterday ruled against a rescue plan for the business backed by US private equity fund Oaktree Capital, the Irish Times reported. The ruling ends the process that began last August when the High Court appointed Bill O’Riordan of PricewaterhouseCoopers as examiner to five of the group’s Irish firms, and lifts the protection from creditors given to the business at that point.
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The chief executive of Superquinn, Andrew Street, has resigned just two days after the company went into receivership and was sold to the Musgraves chain, RTÉ News reported. Receivers Kieran Wallace and Eamonn Richardson of KPMG were appointed by Bank of Ireland, AIB and National Irish Band - and the company had around €400m in debt. In an email circulated by Mr Street this morning, he said the banks had selected this process to secure the maximum amount of the sale proceeds for themselves.
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