Quinns' holding company struck off register

QUINN PROPERTY Investments, the Quinn family’s holding company for the Belfry Hotel and Golf Resort, has been struck off by the Companies Registration Office.

According to a spokesman for the firm, it was listed for strike-off because it has not filed updated accounts.

The company, which is controlled by Seán Quinn jnr, and lists Patricia Quinn, Collette Quinn and Kevin Lunney among its directors, last filed accounts for 2009 in December 2011. However, the spokesman noted that more recent accounts are now “in the process of being filed”.

According to the firm’s last set of accounts, Quinn Property Investments reported a loss of €7 million for 2009.

In December 2011, the Belfry, the former Ryder Cup venue in north Warwickshire, England, was put on the market.

However, according to an agent for UK-based Jones Lang LaSalle, which has been charged with selling the property, it has not yet been sold.

He noted that there has been a lot of interest from across the globe in the property, and that the process was now entering the final rounds of bids.

The property, which was bought in 2006 for £186 million (€225 million) was subsequently valued by the company at just £88 million.

The outstanding debt on the property, which is owed to Bank of Ireland, Barclays and Bank of Scotland, is thought to stand at about £105 million.

Certus is managing the wind- down of the loan book of Bank of Scotland (Ireland).

Situated 18km (11 miles) from Birmingham, the four-times Ryder Cup venue sits on 550 acres. It comprises three golf courses, a 334-bed hotel and a golf academy. It is also home to the headquarters of the Professional Golfers’ Association.

When they purchased the property the Quinns had planned to construct a £150 million development that would have involved the hotel being demolished and a new five-star facility being built in its place.