THE DUBLIN Airport Authority has sold its stake in a long-standing property venture with Dunloe Ewart, the company formally owned by Liam Carroll.
The semi-State body transferred its 50 per cent shareholding in Turckton Developments to a subsidiary of Dunloe Ewart last month. It is understood the decision to sell the stake was linked to a recent instruction from Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar that the DAA focus on its core airport-management business.
The DAA has engaged in a number of joint ventures with developers.
A spokesman for the DAA declined to comment on the financial details of the deal which will see Dunloe Ewart take 100 per cent control of a 130-plus acre site close to Dublin airport.
Latest accounts for Turckton Developments and a subsidiary company, MonAer (Cork) Ltd, show that the companies wrote down the value of their development property by close to €17 million in 2010, a drop of around 37 per cent on the previous year.
The company was in breach of its loan covenants on a €37 million loan with National Irish Bank, the accounts stated. It is understood that NIB supported the sale of the DAA stake.
The DAA’s involvement with the site, which includes the Horizon Logistics Park, stretches back to the mid-1990s. Around 10 per cent of the Turckton site is leased out, mainly to logistics companies, with the remainder zoned for development. Rental income from the properties on the site, which amounts to more than €1 million annually, will now be controlled by the Dunloe Ewart subsidiary.
A spokesman for the DAA said that Turckton had been a profitable investment for DAA.
The DAA’s 2010 annual report shows that it had an €18 million deficit on its balance sheet arising from its joint ventures.
Its other joint ventures include a partnership with property developer Gerry Gannon to develop a new long-term car park adjacent to Dublin airport. Planning permission was subsequently refused.
According to the latest filed accounts for the company behind the joint venture, Gatland Property Ltd, the company wrote down the value of the 20-acre site by €16 million to €8 million. The loans transferred to Nama in April 2010.
The accounts state that Mr Gannon provided a €17 million guarantee for the development, while the DAA provided an interest guarantee in which it agreed to pay its relevant percentage of any interest and default interest accruing pursuant to the company’s loan agreement.
The DAA has also been involved in a venture with developer Bernard McNamara related to a business park at Cork airport.
The DAA, which runs Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports, had a turnover in 2010 of €558 million.
