CERBERUS USED IRISH FIRMS TO BUY LOANS WORTH €19 BILLION - Cerberus, the US company that bought Nama’s Project Eagle portfolio of Northern Ireland loans, has used a network of Irish companies to snap up distressed property loans across Europe with a face value of about €19 billion in the last two years.
Each of the Irish companies owns hundreds of millions, or in some cases billions, of euro in assets but has no employees in Ireland and in some instances, pays no corporation tax here, writes the Irish Times. Cerberus has established at least 10 such companies in Ireland since it started its European property loan shopping spree in 2013, all of which appear to be owned by Promontoria, a Dutch fund that is 100% owned by Cerberus Capital Management. Most of the companies include as their directors Geert Schipper, managing director of Cerberus Global Investments, and Lee Millstein, a senior managing director of Cerberus Capital Management. As well as using Irish companies to buy Nama’s €5.6 billion Project Eagle portfolio of Northern Ireland loans and Ulster Bank’s £4.8 billion (€6.7 billion) Project Aran Irish loans, Cerberus has also set up Dublin-registered firms to buy loans in Germany, France, Britain and several countries in Scandinavia. Cerberus set up Promontoria (Henrico) in Dublin in December to buy a portfolio of £1.2 billion of loans from National Australia Bank (NAB), secured on 5,400 properties throughout the UK. It paid £950 million.
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NGO SLAMS IRISH OIL COMPANY'S AFRICA PLANS - Human rights groups are threatening moves to block Irish oil exploration company San Leon Energy's plan to drill in the disputed Western Sahara region, which has been under Moroccan control since 1979. Dublin headquartered San Leon Energy is facing a potential legal challenge over its proposed drilling activity in the disputed North African territory, which Morocco describes as its Southern Provinces. Human rights group opposed to the drilling say oil exploration should be suspended while the future of Western Sahara is in dispute. The Irish Government has previously called for a referendum to decide the future of Western Sahara. Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan said: "Under international law, the economic resources of a non-self governing territory may only be exploited for the benefit of the people of the territory, on their behalf or in consultation with their representatives. Any exploration and exploitation activities that proceed in disregard of the interests of the people of Western Sahara would be in violation of the principles of international law." However, in a statement to the Irish Independent, San Leon's executive chairman Oisin Fanning said its activities are legally sound. "San Leon's operations are in keeping with our obligations under international law and work for the betterment of all persons in the Southern Provinces of Morocco.
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ECONOMY ENTERING NEW ‘VIRTUOUS' GROWTH PHASE - Leading Irish economists are considering increasing their growth forecasts later this month, as the recovery enters a new phase that looks more like the early “virtuous” years of the Celtic Tiger before the economy ballooned 12 years ago, writes the Irish Examiner. Citing a wide-range of short and leading-term economic indicators such as government tax receipts, purchasing managers’ surveys for the manufacturing and construction industries, and signals from commercial property advisers showing a large pick-up in demand for industrial spaces around the Dublin region - the forecasters say the economic recovery is entering a new “mature life”. Economists say, though, they are awaiting the publication by the CSO of GDP figures later this month that they expect to upgrade their growth forecasts soon after then. Austin Hughes, chief economist at KBC Ireland said he will likely increase his outlook from the growth rates of 4.5% this year and the rate of 3.8% he is predicting for 2016, when the CSO publishes its data. “What we do know is that the economy has had a very strong trajectory, and it is becoming more broadly based. You can quibble whether it will be as high as 5%, but the broad message is relatively strong growth,” Mr Hughes said. Philip O’Sullivan, chief economist at Investec Ireland, said he too may raise his growth forecasts because the momentum appears behind the recovery. He said that changes to the components of the official GDP figures for the early part of the year, due to be published in late July should not alter the overall picture.
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UK COMPANIES STAY TIGHT-LIPPED ON ATTITUDES TO BRITAIN'S UK MEMBERSHIP - The Financial Times says that only 7% of UK companies would be willing to speak out in favour of the country staying in the EU, even though two-thirds believe a so-called Brexit would be damaging for them, research has found. "Because it's an overtly political issue, I think it's perceived as a risk that companies may alienate some of their potential customers, " said Peter Swabey, director of policy at the Insitutue of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators, which asked constituents of the FTSE 350 index about the forthcoming EU referendum. "When you look at the Scottish referendum, it was very late in the day when companies put their head above the parapet, "Mr Swabey noted. "Is a similar pattern being followed here?" Nearly two thirds of the FTSE 350 company secretaries who responded to the FT/ICSA Boardroom Bellwether survey shortly after the general election in May, said a UK exit from the EU would cause "some" or "significant" damage to their company. One-third of respondents believed that Brexit would have no impact, while just 3% believed a Brexit would be positive.
