Dukes: mandate to maximise returns

Anglo Irish Bank has been fully repaid the $171m (€129m) it lent to an investment consortium that owns the One Kendall Square office and retail complex in Cambridge, near Boston, in the United States following a brief court battle over the value of the property.

Owners Beal and Rockwood Capital had been facing foreclosure proceedings on the complex, which is next to MIT and close to Harvard, but had claimed there were no legitimate issues with the mortgage. Anglo had moved to seize it because it said that the office, retail, and cinema complex had fallen in value during the economic downturn and said it was owed millions to make up for this. The owners disagreed, pointing out they had not missed a payment. A US judge agreed with Beal and Rockwood, saying the foreclosure could not go ahead and extending the loan until April when it was due to be repaid.

It is understood the owners wanted an extension on the loan at favourable terms, which Anglo opposed.

The bank has now been paid a $340,000 extension fee and its $350,000 legal costs after fighting an injunction to stop the repossession action. The repayment came after the borrower refinanced its loans away from Anglo.

Anglo has more than €3bn in outstanding loans on prime properties in the Boston area and has been steadily decreasing its exposure in the US.