Receivers dispute claim investor firm owed €9 million

The receivers of the Spencer Dock Development Company have disputed claims by Davy Target Investments that it is entitled to some €9 million payments arising from agreements concerning distribution of rent monies from a large office block on Dublin's quays.

Receivers Luke Charleton and David Hughes want the Commercial Court to fast-track the dispute because they are anxious to proceed with the sale of the building, their counsel Cian Ferriter SC told Mr Justice Brian Cregan.

The judge agreed to transfer the action to the Commercial Court list.

Declan McGrath SC, for Davy Target Investments (DTI), said his side was not objecting to transfer, subject to the caveat they would be applying to have the case stayed to allow for arbitration.

In an affidavit, Mr Charleton said the receivers were appointed in July 2012 over certain assets of the Spencer Dock Development Company Ltd (SDCC) and three related companies, all in receivership and liquidation.

The SDCC was involved in development of a substantial site at Spencer Dock which had been owned by CIÉ, he said. As part of that development, a large office-block building was developed which, on completion, was let to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and is known as the PwC building.

Under a complex set of legal agreements, CIÉ was to receive payments based on a percentage of rent for the PwC building and, in that regard, CIÉ agreed to a 17.5 per cent share, he said.

CIÉ had in March 2013 assigned its rights and benefits relating to the PwC building to Davy Target, he said. Since then, Davy Target had raised various issues, some of which were resolved, but it continued to assert entitlement to certain rents. Based on information currently available, he believed the claimed entitlement amounted to more than €9 million.

Mr Charleton said the defendant initially asserted the correct revised agreed percentage was 28.3 per cent and later said it was 23.6 per cent.

It had recently become clear that the issue as to the Davy Target Investments entitlement was not one the the two parties could resolve, he said. The receivers had called on Davy Target to withdraw its claim to anything more than a 17.5 per cent interest, failing which legal proceedings would be taken.

It was the receivers’ case that Davy Target has received its entitlement to its agreed share of the rents from the PwC building and that the receivers were also not obliged to refer the matter to arbitration, he said.

The receivers had been advised the PwC building should be offered for sale as soon as possible with a view to taking advantage of improved market conditions and to maximise value, Mr Charleton said.

While the defendant’s claim remained in place, it would affect potential purchasers and the matter was urgent.