Developer Johnny Ronan has instigated a fresh row with US-based investment group, Fortress, asserting that he’s due nearly €3.32 million from an insurance payout connected to their shared office creation, Fibonacci Square, in Dublin’s Ballsbridge area, which is currently rented to Facebook’s parent corporation, Meta.
Ronan has indicated that he might lodge a court petition to dissolve the Isle of Man’s Fortress-related company, Aquela Ltd, which owns the development if the alleged outstanding dues aren’t paid. The development once held a valuation of €550 million. Nevertheless, Aquela contests the claim of debt.
In 2022, Ronan’s property firm, Ronan Group Real Estate (RGRE), exchanged its share in Fibonacci Square with Fortress for the latter’s stake in Waterfront South Central, a development plot located in Dublin’s quays.
Included in the negotiation was a clause assuring Ronan a lasting claim to 75% of a business disruption insurance payout, caused by holdups due to the Covid-19 pandemic, per an official demand released in early April by the Isle of Man law firm DQ, acting in favour of Ronan.
The demand stated that Aquela, which owns the development through a middleman fund, had until April 2nd to offer close to €3.32 million to Ronan. This sum represents 75% of a business interruption settlement that Aquela secured “on or prior to” March 15th, the document claims.
If the deadline was not met, Ronan mentioned the potential for a High Court petition in the Isle of Man to wind up Aquela for its alleged inability to repay its debts.
It is believed that, upon the deadline passing on Tuesday, the claimed amount remained unpaid.
A Fortress spokesperson announced that their subsidiary, Aquela, “denies any amount is payable to Mr Ronan” in line with the 2022 share exchange deal. A representative for the developer chose not to comment on this matter.
In 2021, Fortress acquired stakes in several RGRE projects through equity and loan purchases from an international portfolio previously owned by Digital Bridge (previously known as Colony Capital). In 2015, Colony became a joint venture partner and loan provider for numerous RGRE developments by part-financing a €300 million refinancing of loans from the National Asset Management Agency (Nama).
Currently, RGRE is instigating a case in Dublin’s Commercial Court, claiming that Fortress failed to cooperate in 2022 with Mr Ronan’s group to renegotiate development asset facility agreement terms. These allegations are contested by Fortress.
Last year, Fortress assigned receivers to a collection of five properties. Three of these — one located in Fitzwilliam Square, Dublin, and others in Wicklow and another location within the city — have since been listed for sale. This action is distinct from a mutually agreed upon receivership by Bank of Ireland and AIB over a different collection of 12 Ronan assets, with an initiated sale procedure of 11 assets, including the Grafton Street location of Bewley’s Cafe, earlier this month.
Bank of Ireland and AIB also serve as lenders for the Fibonacci Square development through an Irish collective asset-management vehicle (Icav), which isolates the property and its financial arrangements from the dispute between Mr Ronan and Icav holder, Aquela. Official representatives for AIB and Bank of Ireland declined to comment on the matter.
In 2018, Meta entered into a quarter-century lease agreement for the Fibonacci Square office project’s 375,000 sq ft. However, in late 2022, Meta decided not to utilise this commercial space. An abortive early last year deal saw Fortress attempt to sell the property for €550 million to Zara founder Amancio Ortega’s family business. It’s worth noting that the American technological powerhouse leases and operates 340,000 sq ft of office space distributed among the four blocks behind the Fibonacci Square development.