Ireland’s First Billionaire Ordered to Sell Assets to Repay Loans
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Version 0 of 1. DUBLIN — Anthony O’Reilly, Ireland’s first billionaire and the former chief executive and chairman of the H.J. Heinz Company, has been declared insolvent, and on Friday he was ordered to sell his assets immediately to repay loans to one bank exceeding $30 million. A Dublin judge rejected pleas from Mr. O’Reilly’s lawyers for a six-month postponement. Legal experts believe that the ruling is likely to prompt claims by other creditors, who are owed an estimated $266 million in total. Court papers detail the recent sales of Mr. O’Reilly’s Dublin house for more than $4 million and Shorecliffe House, in Glandore, County Cork, for more than $2 million. They also cite serious interest in his sprawling Castlemartin Stud and Estate in County Kildare, on the banks of the River Liffey near Dublin. Although the estate was not secured against the loans from the Allied Irish Banks, Friday’s judgment puts it into play. In his ruling, the judge noted that it was probable that the sale of encumbered assets would not cover the bank debt. Mr. O’Reilly also owns other homes around the world, including in the Caribbean. Mr. O’Reilly’s financial woes have been attributed to a series of failed investments he made in the past decade. The former owner of Independent News & Media, Ireland’s biggest media group, Mr. O’Reilly spent hundreds of millions in a failed attempt to ward off a hostile takeover of the company by the cellphone mogul Denis O’Brien, who is now Ireland’s wealthiest person. Along with his brother-in-law, Peter Goulandris, Mr. O’Reilly also lost more than $545 million trying to save Waterford Wedgwood, the luxury crystal and porcelain manufacturer, which was eventually restructured in 2009. |