Court to deal with dispute over sale of repossessed Wexford nursing home for more than €3.97m

High Court Reporters

The Commercial Court has agreed to deal with a dispute in which receivers say they are being prevented from selling a repossessed former nursing home for more than €3.97 million.

Andrew Byrne, along with fellow Deloitte Ireland insolvency practitioner, James Anderson, was appointed receiver over Aperee Living Ballygunner Ltd in 2017, which ran the now vacant nursing home in Ballygunner, Co Wexford.

The move arose over default on repayments by Aperee on borrowings from AIB plc.

Aperee's total liabilities as of Monday stand at €3.97 million while a purchaser willing to pay in excess of that figure has been found, it is claimed.

The receivers commenced a sales process in February last. However, Mr Byrne said in an affidavit, since then there has been protracted interaction with Aperee's advisors who have consistently expressed a desire to redeem its borrowings.

Aperee issued proceedings last June seeking a declaration that it was entitled to the opportunity to exercise its right of redemption in relation to the mortgage on the nursing home.

It also sought that the receivers provide a detailed breakdown of the nearly €559,000 fee claimed by them for carrying out the receivership.

It further sought an injunction restraining the receivers and AIB from taking any step to market or sell the property.

It then registered what is known as a "lis pendens" or warning to prospective purchasers that the property was subject to a legal dispute.

Mr Byrne said it does not appear Aperee has the financial capacity to redeem the borrowings.

The receivers are now seeking to have the lis pendens vacated. Mr Byrne believes Aperee's proceedings are not being prosecuted in a bona fide manner. It has still not delivered a statement of claim in the case, he said.

There was also no response to the receivers' request to Aperee to vacate the lis pendens.

Mr Byrne said a buyer for the former nursing home has been identified and the receivers are in a position to proceed with the sale, subject to the removal of the lis pendens.

As a result, the receivers asked that the case be admitted to the fast track Commercial Court.

On Monday, Mr Justice Denis McDonald agreed to admit the case to the commercial list as he said the circumstances merited it being admitted.

He also gave the plaintiff's solicitors leave to apply next week to cease representing them or "come off record". He would also deal with an application to discharge the lis pendens.