In 2014, Ireland’s National Asset Management Agency completed Northern Ireland’s largest ever property deal, selling all of its £4.5bn in loans it owned in the country held against 850 properties to Cerberus Capital Management for £1.2bn.
High-profile allegations include hidden payments to advisers, a lack of competition in the sales process and secret deals made by borrowers.
The Public Accounts Committee in Dublin will begin to examine the sale on 29 September and interview Nama chairman Frank Daly to probe for any wrongdoing and see if the taxpayer is out of pocket. Finance minister Michael Noonan has agreed to appear.
Here Estates Gazette looks at the complex series of events and accusations surrounding the Project Eagle sale.
The big questions to be answered by the committee are:
- Did Nama get the best possible price for Project Eagle?
- Should the sale have been halted when bidder Pimco raised concerns about the process, and should Noonan have intervened?
- Should Nama have provided better information to bidders on the loans in order to achieve a better price?
May 2013
Northern Ireland first minister Peter Robinson meets with Pimco, which is interested in buying all of Nama’s Northern Ireland property loans. Cushnahan and Ian Coulter, then managing partner at Tughans, also attend.
June 2013
Northern Ireland finance minister Sammy Wilson, who recommended Cushnahan for his initial Nama post, contacts the Irish government to say two clients of US law firm Brown Rudnick are interested in acquiring the loans, one of which is Pimco.
July 2013
Michael Noonan, Ireland’s finance minister, replies to Wilson saying bidders should contact Nama and that all sales should be done in an open-market capacity.
November 2013
Cushnahan resigns from Nama.
December 2013
Pimco submits a bid to buy the loans on an off-market basis, advised by Brown Rudnick.
January 2014
Pimco approach prompts Nama to appoint Lazard for an open-market sale. Discussions begin with nine parties.
March 2014
Pimco, one of three still bidding, discovers the £15m fee due to its lawyer Brown Rudnick is to be split three ways with Coulter and Cushnahan. Pimco makes Nama aware and is withdrawn from the process.
Cerberus, also bidding for the portfolio, takes Brown Rudnick onto its team. Cerberus meets with first minister Peter Robinson.
April 2014
Only two bidders left as Pimco drops out. Cerberus fights off Fortress to buy the loans for just over £1.2bn, less than 1% above the Nama reserve price. Nama decreased the reserve shortly before the sale due to some loans having been sold separately.
January 2015
Coulter resigns from Tughans.
July 2015
Mick Wallace, an independent politician, alleges a £7.5m fee paid by Tughans to Brown Rudnick for its services on the Project Eagle deal had been moved to an Isle of Man bank account to facilitate a payment to a Northern Irish politician or party. Tughans confirms the money had been moved by Coulter but it has been retrieved and Coulter says there was no political involvement. UK National Crime Agency and Northern Ireland’s finance committee open investigations. Cushnahan denies any wrongdoing. The Public Accounts Committee hears from Nama chairman Frank Daly about Pimco flagging the proposed payment by Brown Rudnick to Cushnahan and Coulter.
Comptroller and auditor general of NI Audit Office starts investigation.
September 2015
Loyalist blogger Jamie Bryson gives evidence under parliamentary privilege to NI finance committee and alleges recipients of the £7.5m are Robinson, Cushnahan, Coulter, Andrew Creighton, the co-owner of William Ewart Properties and an accountant, David Watters, who claims that the sale was his idea. Robinson, Creighton and Watters add their denials of any wrongdoing to Cushnahan and Coulter. US Justice Department subpoenas Cerberus.
June 2016
Cushnahan and former Nama head of asset recovery Ronnia Hanna are arrested and released on bail by the National Crime Agency.
August 2016
Former Sinn Fein chairman on the assembly’s finance committee, Daithí McKay, resigns as a member of the legislative assembly after Twitter messages show he briefed Bryson on his appearance. Sinn Fein member Thomas O’Hara is suspended for sending Bryson messages. A report on Project Eagle by the comptroller and auditor general is delivered to Department of Finance and finance minister Michael Noonan.
September 2016
Noonan says report shows nothing improper or illegal in sale of Project Eagle. Report published and shows loss of around £190m and is critical of Nama for “over-discounting loans”. Daly rejects findings saying no investor would be willing to pay same price again. He is due to appear in front of the Public Accounts Committee. Noonan agrees to appear before the Public Accounts Committee over whether he should have intervened in the sale and whether doing so would have saved taxpayers’ money.
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