Barrett and Ronan finally raise the white flag as liquidation looms

THE DEATH knell sounded for Treasury Holdings yesterday as KBC Bank Ireland’s winding-up petition, supported by the National Asset Management Agency, went through unopposed.

After nine months of bitter disputes and expensive litigation, Treasury Holdings’ co-founders Richard Barrett and Johnny Ronan finally raised the white flag in their battle to retain some vestige of control over the business.

Neither of them attended the court yesterday, with both said to be out of the country on business.

While the liquidators – Michael McAteer and Paul McCann of Grant Thornton – and receivers appointed by Nama, try to achieve some value for the taxpayers and the shareholders of KBC, Barrett and Ronan continue on with their other business interests. These are substantial, on paper at least.

Between them, they have a near 30 per cent share of Treasury China Trust, a substantial listed property company in Asia.

Barrett owns Oriental Management Services Ltd, a Jersey-based entity that acquired the property manager and trustee manager for TCT for €2.268 million. These businesses earned S$24.7 million (€15.6 million) in fees from TCT in 2011 and are profitable.

These transactions were completed in August and are disputed by KBC and Nama, who have questioned the valuation and timing, given that they came on the eve of the Belgian bank’s winding-up application being heard in court.

Ronan, meanwhile, has a number of assets that include Treasury’s head office at Connaught House in Dublin.

Back to Treasury, and, strange as it might seem, it’s a case of business as usual for many of the assets operated by the property developer.

These include the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Enniskerry, which is said to have had its busiest trading month in September; the Westin Hotel in central Dublin; and the Convention Centre Dublin on Spencer Dock.

The liquidation of Treasury will be a complex and lengthy affair.

In total, 16 companies are to be wound up. A convoluted corporate structure links these entities and it will take some time to unpick this complex web.

Treasury’s 35 staff in Dublin face uncertain futures. Their employer no longer exists, although the liquidators will want to retain the services and expertise of many of them for some time to come.

The liquidators are taking charge of the trading assets of the company. It will also be their responsibility to investigate the sale of the two Treasury China assets to Barrett’s Jersey company. Barrett maintains that this was a legitimate transaction.

Others question the valuation. A strategic review by Goldman Sachs earlier this year is believed to have put a value of S$50 million (€31.5 million) on the two companies. This report was referenced in court yesterday, with Mr Justice Brian McGovern stating that the matter should be investigated by the liquidators and, if appropriate, by the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement.

Treasury might be no more, but this story might run on for some time to come.