IBRC set to sell O’Brien and McFadden-linked loans

The special liquidators of Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC) are likely to conclude the sale of a €9.3 billion portfolio of loans, including debt held by businessmen Denis O'Brien and Niall McFadden, early next week.

Liquidators Kieran Wallace and Eamon Richardson of KPMG put Project Stone, a total of €9.3 billion in commercial property debt originally loaned by Anglo Irish Bank, up for sale last year.

It emerged yesterday that the debt will be sold in tranches to a number of buyers, including Deutsche Bank, private equity player CarVal Investors and a Goldman Sachs-backed distressed assets fund, along with a number of other players.

The sales have yet to be concluded but it is understood that they are likely to go through at some point early next week. Project Stone includes borrowings held by Mr O'Brien and Mr McFadden along with loans connected with the Blackrock Clinic. The loans are tied to commercial property with underlying collateral spread across Ireland (42 per cent), Britain (40 per cent) and continental Europe (15 per cent), with the balance across the rest of the world.