NAMA IS set to sell loans with a face value of £500 million made to an Irish developer of Portuguese and US golf resorts popular with wealthy Irish investors at the height of the property boom, it has been reported.
The majority of the loans were made by Anglo Irish Bank to Oceanico, which is half-owned by developer Gerry Fagan.
The loans were acquired at a discount by Nama in January last year.
According to the London-based
Property Week magazine, Nama has instructed CBRE to sell on the loans – made to Oceanico between 2000 and 2008.
Oceanico, which was reported to have been worth £2 billion in 2008 before the property crash, owns dozens of golf resorts in Portugal, North America and the Azores, including the largest single resort in the Europe, the Vilamoura in Portugal’s Algarve, which has five golf courses.
In all, Oceanico developed seven golf courses in Portugal – designed by world-class golfers such as Seve Ballesteros and Nick Faldo – and sold thousands of houses and flats to property investors, many of them Irish.
Last night, Nama refused to comment on its dealings but it is understood that it was approached last month by a buyer interested in taking over the properties.
Oceanico was founded in 2000 by Mr Fagan and his British partner Simon Burgess. In early 2008, it bought the Little River Golf and Resort in North Carolina, which still operates successfully, though a planned refurbishment did not go ahead.
Oceanico was one of the property companies to focus on the Azores during the height of the boom.
The Azores, Mr Fagan told The Irish Timesin 2008, would soar as a golfing destination because it was mid-way between the US and Europe.
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