The Commercial Court has dismissed a challenge by a company to moves by receivers to sell off a repossessed former nursing home.
Last month, proceedings by Aperee Living Ballygunner Ltd, which ran a now vacant nursing home in Ballygunner, Co Wexford, against insolvency practitioners Andrew Byrne and James Anderson, were entered into the commercial list.
Mr Byrne and Mr Anderson were appointed receivers over the nursing home in 2017 by AIB due to Aperee’s default on borrowings.
They had asked the fast track Commercial Court to deal with the Aperee case as they had a purchaser for the former nursing home and did not want the deal further delayed.
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They had an offer of €3.97 million for the property which was in excess of Aperee’s liabilities, the receivers said.
On Monday, Ciaran Lewis SC, for the receivers, applied for the Aperee proceedings to be dismissed over a failure of the company to comply with a court direction that it deliver a statement of claim. There was no appearance on behalf of Aperee.
Granting the dismissal, Mr Justice Denis McDonald said that back in August, Aperee said it was ready to deliver a statement of claim but it was not delivered notwithstanding two reminder letters.
There was also no appearance on behalf of the company when the receivers applied to the court to lift a legal warning, known as a lis pendens, which had been placed by Aperee over the sale of the property, he said. The company had never come forward to explain why a statement of claim was not delivered, he said.
Against that background, it seemed clear the court should dismiss the case and award the costs of the case to the defendant receivers, he said.
Aperee, in its proceedings, claimed it was entitled to the opportunity to exercise its right of redemption in relation to the mortgage on the nursing home. It also sought an injunction restraining the receivers and AIB from taking any step to market or sell the property.
The receivers said it does not appear Aperee has the financial capacity to redeem the borrowings.
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