John Herlihy: European boss

Internet search engine giant Google is close to a deal to acquire its headquarters building on Barrow Street in Dublin from Bank of Scotland Ireland. The bank appointed a receiver to the office, which was developed by Liam Carroll, in 2009.

Now, property sources say Google plans to acquire the building and retrofit it to bring it up to the required standard.

Staff are expected to be relocated to offices nearby during the process and the company has already rented new offices ahead of that move. The sources said they were also in talks with Treasury Holdings to rent part of Montevetro – the office building opposite Google's current headquarters. Nama has loaned Treasury working capital to complete the building's façade and fit out the top three floors of the building.

"Google doesn't comment on rumour or speculation," said a spokeswoman for Google, whose European boss is John Herlihy.

The move would appear to be part of a wider policy by the company of buying properties it uses. Last month it spent $1.8bn to buy a 15-storey building that occupies an entire square block in Chelsea, New York, where it has more than 2,000 employees.

David Hughes of Ernst & Young is acting as receiver for Bank of Scotland Ireland.