AIB has appointed receivers to companies and properties which own much of The Square Town Centre in Tallaght in Dublin.
The appointments of Kieran Wallace and Eamonn Richardson from Interpath as joint receivers was made with the consent of funds managed by US private equity firm Oaktree Capital Management, which owns much of the centre.
In a statement, the parties said they are committed to working together to complete an orderly sale of The Square to a new owner in early course.
"The owners of the independently owned units will not be impacted by the receivership," the statement said.
"The appointments of the receivers and managers will not impact any tenants or the continued operation and trading at The Square," it added.
The Square had been on the market for the last year, with a reported price tag of €170m.
That is around €80m less than Oaktree Capital Management paid for it when it bought it from the National Asset Management Agency in 2019.
In February, the Irish Times reported that while there had been interest from buyers, bids for the properties had come in at around €125m.
While AIB as main lender and Oaktree were prepared to sell at that level, it was reported that another lender to Oaktree was unhappy with the price.
But it is understood that in the end the process to sell the centre could not be concluded as issues had arisen.
As a result, it was decided that the best approach would be appoint receivers to the companies behind the centre, which has been done by consent of the parties involved.
It is hoped that the centre will return to the market in the coming weeks.
Spokespeople for both AIB and Oaktree declined to comment on the issue.
The Square is home to 144 stores, 32 food outlets and has 2,500 parking spaces.
