Czech company makes last-ditch Savarin offer to Nama

A Czech property company that was excluded from the sale process for a major Prague retail scheme has written to Nama offering to buy the debts secured on the scheme for €87 million, at least €4 million more than Nama is set to receive from its sale to another bidder.

Flow East, which has launched two lawsuits in Prague over the sale of the Savarin Palace project by Seán Mulryan's Ballymore group, says it is also preparing a state aid complaint against Nama for the European Commission.

The firm has been involved in a row with Ballymore and Nama for months after it was prevented from bidding. Ballymore says it couldn’t provide proof of funds, although Flow East says it is fully funded.

Ballymore put the Savarin project on Prague’s historic Wenceslas Square up for sale last year, with the proceeds due to go to Nama.

Cushman and Wakefield, Ballymore’s advisers, announced this week that Ballymore had sold Savarin to Crestyl, a rival Czech bidder whose senior management includes a former Ballymore executive.

It is believed Crestyl bought Welwyn, the company that owns Savarin, for about €83 million. On Wednesday, the day after the sale was announced, James Woolf, Flow East's founder, wrote to Nama offering to buy Welwyn's debts for €87 million.

Earlier meeting

Nama says the sale process was the responsibility of Ballymore. But in his letter to Nama, Mr Woolf said he had met two officials from Nama as far back as 2012 in an attempt to buy Savarin, and they allegedly told him that the agency would get involved if it received an acceptable offer.

Nama responded to Flow East that it has “closed its file” on the matter.

Mr Woolf has now accused Nama of breaching state aid guidelines in allowing the asset to be sold for a price it alleges was not the highest available. He says Flow East’s lawyers are working on the complaint, and that it will be sent to Brussels “next week”.

In a statement, Nama reiterated it was not in control of the Savarin sale.