PTSB may cut third of bad-loans staff

Permanent TSB’s (PTSB) agreement in late July to sell 11,000 distressed mortgages to an affiliate of US private equity firm Loan Star may result in the bank cutting about a third of the 300-strong workforce in its asset management unit, according to a report in the Sunday Times.

The newspaper said that PTSB has already warned 30-40 employees that they will be affected by the transaction, involving €2.2 billion of loans. However, as many as 100 people work on the portfolio, with some engaged on fixed-term contracts. The asset management unit was set up during the financial crisis to resolve mortgages that had fallen into arrears.

McKillens in exclusive talks to buy Clerys

The Sunday Times also reports that companies linked to the family of developer Paddy McKillen are now in exclusive talks to buy the former Clerys department store on O'Connell Street in Dublin from Deirdre Foley's Natrium consortium.

The building, which is being marketed with a guide price of €61.1million, has planning permission for office, retail, hospitality and food and beverage outlets. The newspaper has suggested that Paddy McKillen could take control of the retail and office elements of the development, with Paddy McKillen jnr's Press-Up Entertainment, which owns a number of businesses from the Wowburger franchise to the Dean Hotel in Dublin, taking on the hospitality parts.

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Mainstream puts €700m on renewable energy group

Mainstream Renewable Power, the wind energy firm founded by Eddie O'Connor, has put a valuation of €700 million on itself as it promised shareholders in a letter that it remains committed to giving them exit opportunities through a stock-market flotation or trade sale, according to the Sunday Independent.

The company was founded in 2008. Of almost €200 million of equity committed to Mainstream since it was set up a decade ago, €74 million has come from high-net worth individuals in Ireland, with a further €50 million from Mr O’Connor, management, staff and close associates of the company.

Hickeys Heuston site fetches over €30m

The Sunday Independent also reports that the landmark Hickeys site at Parkgate Street in Dublin 8 has been sold for more than €30 million to an undisclosed buyer.

The site, which has been used by Hickeys as its wholesale warehouse for the past four decades, could accommodate a number of uses, including residential, hotel or office development, according to the newspaper.

Weston Airport seeks nod for more executive jets traffic

The owner of Weston Airport on the border between Leixlip in Co Kildare and Lucan in Dublin is seeking to ramp up executive jet services, pitching to An Bord Pleanala that it could create 200 jobs, according to a report in the Sunday Business Post.

Builder Brian Coneely told the planning authority in a filing that he has been approached by "several executive jet operators", including Hewlett-Packard, Intel and Nejets, which had "expressed a strong interest in using Weston Airport as an alternative to Dublin Airport," the article cited the businessman as saying.