Treasury share issues raised by judge

A HIGH Court judge yesterday expressed concern over the apparent “vast” undervalue of the sale of shares in two companies linked to insolvent developer Treasury Holdings just as it was about to be wound up.

Mr Justice Brian McGovern said there appears to be “a significant issue” that the sale of shares in two Treasury-linked Chinese companies to Jersey-registered company controlled by Treasury co-founder Richard Barrett was “at a significant undervalue”.

The shares in those companies were bought at around €2.21 million, payable between August 2012 and August 2014, while there was a suggestion from Goldman Sachs that they were worth around €31 million, the judge said. “The differences between the figures are vast,” he said.

These issues were canvassed on affidavit supplied by Treasury and it seemed to him they were matters for the joint liquidators appointed to wind up the company, as well as for the Director of Corporate Enforcement, the judge said.

He was speaking as he made formal orders winding up Treasury following its statement last week that it was no longer resisting KBC Bank’s application to have it and a number of related companies wound up over a debt of €55 million to it.

The judge appointed Paul McCann and Michael McAteer of Grant Thornton as joint liquidators, ordered the company directors to file a statement of affairs within 21 days and made the matter returnable to the High Court examiner’s list.

KBC initiated the winding-up proceedings earlier this year and while Nama, which is owed more than €1 billion, initially adopted a neutral position on KBC’s application, it later supported the application due to its “serious concerns” following the announcement of the transfer of Chinese assets on the Singapore stock exchange.

Lyndon MacCann SC, for KBC, agreed with the judge and noted the liquidators were in fact mandated to look at any criminal or civil issues which may arise. The bank had “very serious suspicions” about the transfer of the shareholding but had confidence in the liquidators to investigate the matter, he said.

A solicitor for Nama said he echoed Mr MacCann’s concerns and regarded Treasury’s explanation as unsatisfactory and incomplete.

Michael Collins SC, for Treasury, said he was a little taken aback at the way the bank’s position was being presented now. Had there been a wish to do anything contrived, there were weeks and months in which this could have been done, he said. There was a dispute about the reasoning but it was done in a very public way through an announcement on the Singapore stock exchange, he added.

The seven directors of the parent Treasury Holdings are: John Bruder, Coppinger Wood, Stillorgan, Dublin; John Ronan, Dargle Cottage, Enniskerry, Co Wicklow; Niall O’Buachalla, Ballintyre Downs, Ballinteer, Dublin, Patrick Anthony Teahon, Wellington Road, Dublin; Richard Barrett, Upper Leeson Street, Dublin, Richard David, Regency Park, Huamu Road, Pudong, Shanghai, China, and Rory Williams, Sorbonne, Clonskeagh, Dublin.

Most of these seven are also directors of some or all of the other 15 companies in the group. Eight of these firms are called SDCC (numbers 1 to 8), while the others are: Foxgor Ltd, Spencer Dock Development Co Ltd, Robheat Ltd, Spencer Dock National Convention Centre Hotel Ltd, Querida Ireland Holdings Ltd, Querida Environmental Ltd and Querida Environmental Solutions Ltd.

Businessman Harry Crosbie, with an address at Hanover Quay, Dublin, is a director of all eight SDCC companies, while Sonja Price, Bellewstown Lodge, Drogheda, Co Louth, is named as a “director alternative” on two of the companies.