Google Buys NAMA Building For 99.9m Euro

NAMA (National Asset Management Agency has made its first big sale, after Google agreed to buy a 15-storey building in central Dublin for just under one hundred million euro.

The agency, set up by the Irish government to buy risky loans from the banks at a discount and re-sell them, said it would make back all of the taxpayers' money that had been spent on the project.

In addition to purchasing the loan, NAMA provided the property's owners Real Estate Opporutunity (REO) with extra cash to complete the development.

"Nama played an intrinsic part in brokering the deal between purchaser and seller, and in putting this deal together," said NAMA chairman Frank Daly, "It is an excellent example of NAMA's ability to enhance the value of its assets for the benefit of taxpayers."

NAMA chairman Frank Daly said it reflected the positive potential of the agency to support the commercial property market in Ireland.

The Montevetro building is the tallest commercial building in Dublin and is located across the street from Google's current headquarters on Barrow Street.

"We are at capacity in our HQ and the additional space will allow us to relocate some teams to Montevetro and to create an even more spacious working environment for Googlers in our existing building," said John Herlihy, head of Google in Ireland.

Google employs 1,600 people in Dublin.

The internet search giant announced earlier this year that it is creating 1,000 new jobs in Europe, and Mr Herlihy said he hopes to see some of those posts coming to the new HQ.

The sale of the building provides a high-profile boost to NAMA, and represents the first time the agency has commented on an individual project.

It remains to be seen just how much taxpayers will save in the long run.

The loan was originally given by the almost-nationalized AIB, and it was transferred to NAMA at a significant discount.

In a separate development, NAMA announced that it will repay €250m of senior securities (Nama bonds) in the coming weeks.

It's issued more than €28.5bn in these bonds to date.

It will also repay €49m to the Minister for Finance repaying a loan that was used to inject equity into NAMA at its set up.

Both these repayments are head of schedule.

Mr Daly said it "demonstrates the effectiveness of the NAMA business model and reflects its current strong cash position", saying it was a "significant milestone for the Agency and the participating institutions".