Dublin solicitor takes lead in UK bid

Dublin solicitor Brian O'Donnell has emerged as the preferred bidder for a £115 million (€167.43 million) office property in London's docklands, less than four months after he spent £135 million on a neighbouring development.

Mr O'Donnell, a former managing partner of William Fry, and his wife Dr Mary Patricia O'Donnell were told late last week that they had beaten off a number of other wealthy bidders, including at least two Irish businessmen, to win control of 17 Columbus Courtyard in Canary Wharf.

The 18,600 square-metre office building is currently occupied by investment bank, Credit Suisse First Boston on a letting agreement that has another 23 years to run.

The occupancy yields about £6.5 million each year in rent.

Mr O'Donnell, who was advised on the deal by the corporate finance team at Deloitte in Dublin, will buy the property from the Canary Wharf Group.

He is thought to have submitted a highly-leveraged bid that could see him put down less than £20 million of his own funds.

His status as preferred bidder means he has been selected ahead of at least four other would-be buyers.

These are thought to have included two prominent Irish businessmen who were respectively advised by Bank of Ireland Private Banking and KPMG.

Other interested parties included a Middle Eastern consortium and a teachers' pension fund from the US.

The Columbus Courtyard is just the second building to be sold off by Canary Wharf since the group was taken private by Morgan Stanley's Songbird consortium a year ago.

Mr and Mrs O'Donnell bought the first such property, 15 Westferry Circus, in March just days after the British Chancellor, of the Exchequer Gordon Brown, abolished stamp duty in "deprived" areas, including Canary Wharf.

Stamp duty could previously have been charged at 4 per cent of the purchase price.

The yield of about 5.5 per cent that the O'Donnells will draw from the Columbus building marks a decline from the 6.2 per cent that came with 17 Westferry Circus, with the fall linked to the downward movement in UK swap rates in the interim.

The 17 Columbus Courtyard property was built in 1998 and has been occupied by Credit Suisse First Boston from the start.

Mr O'Donnell's bid will take advantage of a finance package being offered by the investment bank to all interested parties.