Johnny Ronan, an Irish property developer, is currently in an ongoing dispute with Aquela Ltd, a firm affiliated with the US-based Fortress Investment Group. Mr Ronan asserts that the firm owes him €3.3 million due to an insurance payout connected to their joint office project, Fibonacci Square, located in Ballsbridge, Dublin. The case has been moved to the swift-moving Commercial Court.
Mr Ronan is litigation against Aquela, a business registered in the Isle of Man. The defendant has countered the claim, marking it as unfounded. The case was forwarded to the Commercial Court on a Monday via Mr Justice Denis McDonald, via the application of Mr Ronan’s barrister, Alison Keirse.
Speaking on behalf of Aquela, Lyndon MacCann SC has stated that while there isn’t any dispute about the case’s entry to the commercial list, his team maintains that the claim itself is without basis due to how the contract is interpreted.
The core of the dispute came about through an agreement in which Ronan Group Real Estate (RGRE) traded its ownership share in Fibonacci Square – currently leased to Meta – for Fortress’s share in Waterfront South Central, Dublin’s quays.
In an affidavit, Mr Ronan claims that as part of this agreement, Aquela was obligated to pay him 75 per cent of the award from a business interruption insurance claim as a result of pandemic-related delays. Despite making multiple demands for this payment, Mr Ronan asserts that Aquela’s denial of owing any payment is a blatant misinterpretation of the relevant contractual clause.
Mr Justice McDonald has deferred the issue to be resumed next month.
In an unrelated lawsuit yet to be reviewed by the Commercial Court, several companies related to the Ronan Group are suing Fortress and affiliated businesses. These companies claim that the defendants failed to cooperate with Ronan firms’ efforts to refinance facilities under a development assets facility agreement and a mezzanine facility agreement, which they allege equates to a breach of duty. The Ronan-associated companies are claiming damages for breach of contract, unlawful interference with contractual relations, inducing breach of contract, negligence and/or breach of duty.