A HIGH Court judge has said he wants more information about valuations of property owned by the troubled McInerney construction group before making his decision on whether to sanction a survival plan for the group.
Mr Justice Frank Clarke has asked to be provided with the information today before deciding whether it may be released to a syndicate of three banks owed more than €114 million that is opposing a further extension of the examinership. The syndicate comprises Bank of Ireland, KBC and Anglo Irish Bank.
The judge has continued court protection until Friday when a full hearing is scheduled to take place.
Five McInerney companies have been under High Court protection from creditors since late August, when William O’Riordan was appointed examiner.
American private equity house Oaktree Capital is in negotiations with the examiner to take a stake for €40 million in the group, which has businesses in the Republic and in England. Oaktree has also said it will invest at least €10 million in the Irish operation as part of a rescue plan.
Yesterday, counsel for the examiner gave Mr Justice Clarke a confidential letter outlining valuations put on McInerney properties by auctioneers Lisney. Those properties form part of the proposed survival scheme.
The judge said the firm’s directors had taken the prudent action of writing down the value of property assets by some 50 per cent but he wanted more information as to whether a further writedown was required. Bernard Dunleavy, for the examiner, said that information could be supplied today.
Earlier, Mr Dunleavy said the examiner had stated that he was actively engaging with Oaktree and had formed the view that he will be in a position to have a scheme in place to ensure the company’s survival as a going concern.
Rossa Fanning, for the banks, said they were continuing to oppose the examinership process in a situation where, nearly 70 days after the examinership began, his clients had even less information about the survival scheme and the situation was, “if anything, more opaque”.
