Brehon Capital Partners, the Swiss co-owner of the Marker hotel in Dublin and the Powerscourt hotel in Enniskerry, Co Wicklow, is preparing an offer for part of the Citywest hotel complex built by the late developer Jim Mansfield.
Brehon has written to Capitacorp, a representative of about 120 individual investors who paid €52 million to Mr Mansfield for a development of suites at the west Dublin complex, to enquire about buying them out.
The 140 Citywest Golf Suites units have been shuttered for several years and the investors have been unable to gain access to their properties while the rest of the complex has been in receivership.
The suites are not under the control of the receiver, Martin Ferris, who is currently trying to close the sale of the rest of the Citywest complex for about €30 million. The receiver is understood to have control only of the lobby area of the suites complex.
If Brehon managed to gain control of the suites, it would put the company in prime position to have a tilt at the entire Citywest complex, should its stalled receivership sale to BSQ Investments collapse completely.
The sale to BSQ was supposed to complete last December, and it has become mired in High Court action as the receiver tries to force it to close.
In a letter seen by The Irish Times , lawyers for Brehon last week wrote to Capitacorp managing director Jack Kinerk. "Our client would have an interest in acquiring some or all of the units at the Golf Suites for a price which would include an up-front payment and a provision for a further payment," the letter said.
It said the further payment would “either [be] in the form of capital or recurring income based on the trading performance of the golf suites in due course”.In addition to buying some or all of the suites, Brehon also wants to take over managing them and ensure their “orderly operation, which has clearly not occurred to date for a variety of reasons that can be rectified”.
Brehon has asked Capitacorp, which did not respond to a request for comment, to schedule a meeting of the investors to discuss its proposal. Brehon also declined to comment.
