Boom-era developer Derek Quinlan has sought bankruptcy in a British court following almost four years of litigation over a Spanish property debt.
Mr Quinlan became one of the Republic’s biggest developers in the early years of the century after he and fellow investors mopped up high-profile properties here, in Britain and Europe, including London’s Savoy Hotel.
He confirmed on Wednesday that he has asked the British high court to “exercise its discretion to make a bankruptcy order against me”.
Mr Quinlan’s move follows long-running litigation with investment fund, Edgeworth, controlled by billionaire Robert Tchenguiz, over a debt relating to the Banco Santander head office complex in Madrid, Spain.
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The Irishman and a business partner bought this property in 2008 in a deal in which the financing included a €75 million personal loan to Mr Quinlan.
Edgeworth and Abu Dhabi investment fund Aabar acquired this debt in 2010 from Royal Bank of Scotland for what Mr Quinlan says was the “incredulously low sum of €5,000″.
He maintains that they agreed in 2011 not to pursue him for this debt, but Edgeworth began bankruptcy proceedings in the British courts against him in February 2019.
Mr Quinlan began defending the action and counter sued, arguing that he had not breached the 2011 agreement.
“It should be emphasised that I am not acceding to Tchenguiz’s bankruptcy petition and purported petition debt; and the grounds on which the petition have been presented remain disputed,” Mr Quinlan said on Wednesday.
He blamed the Republic’s National Asset Management Agency’s (Nama) refusal to settle with him over a separate debt for leaving him unable to restart his career and so pay for his defence in the British court.
According to Mr Quinlan, Nama rejected all his settlement efforts, even though he has repaid it €3.1 billion in personal and associated debt.
“This repayment amount represents hundreds of millions of profit to Nama on my debt that they purchased at a significant discount,” he added.
Mr Quinlan said he co-operated with Nama, which “forced” him to sell mainly prime London properties at the wrong time in the market.
Had the agency waited, those assets would have sold for several hundred millions more, allowing him to repay his debt with a surplus, he argued.
“I have worked in co-operation with my bankers since 2009 to repay over €3.8 billion in personal and associated debt,” said Mr Quinlan. Nama did not comment.
A former Revenue inspector, Mr Quinlan initially used his knowledge of tax breaks to structure property deals backed by wealthy people and debt. His firm Quinlan Private’s lenders included Anglo Irish Bank, which collapsed during the financial crisis.
In 2004, Quinlan Private outbid Saudi prince, Alwaleed Bin Talal to buy a group of landmark London hotels, including the Savoy and Claridges, for £750 million sterling.
The firm then sold the Savoy to Prince Alwaleed for £250 million. More deals in Britain and Europe followed.
However, he found himself with large personal and associated debt following the 2008 property and financial crash. Mr Quinlan resigned from Quinlan Private in 2009 and moved to Geneva, Switzerland.
