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The iconic Battersea Power Station in London, bought by a Treasury Holdings subsidiary in 2006. Dominic Lipinski/PA Archive
Battersea

Treasury holding company for Battersea purchase set to be wound up

A creditors’ meeting has been called for January 14, looking to wind up the company which bought the iconic London plant.

THE HOLDING COMPANY behind the ambitious purchase of the iconic Battersea Power Station by Treasury Holdings is set to be wound up following a meeting next week.

A meeting of creditors of the Battersea Power Station Shareholder Vehicle Ltd, a company legally registered in Jersey, will be held on the island on January 14.

It is expected that administrators from the London offices of Grant Thornton will be appointed to wind down the business and attempt to repay its loans.

Grant Thornton is already managing the liquidation of its overall Irish parent company, Treasury Holdings, which is being wound up following court action in October.

The Battersea project had already been put into administration in 2011 when the subsidiaries failed to repay loans to NAMA and Lloyds TSB, which had in turn taken over the original loans given out by Bank of Ireland and Bank of Scotland respectively, and to a separate Cantonese developer.

NAMA and Lloyds agreed earlier this year to sell the station to a Malaysian consortium for £400 million. Other bidders to buy the site had included Chelsea FC, which wanted to build a new stadium on the grounds.

The iconic building is among the properties listed on the British government’s Statutory List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest. It is designated as a Grade II building, meaning that it is a building of more than special interest.

The €532 million takeover of the iconic London power station in 2006 came at the height of the wave of Irish purchases of landmark locations in the British capital.

The site was until recently owned by a number of subsidiaries of Real Estate Opportunities, which itself was majority owned by Treasury Holdings, the vehicle of developers Johnny Ronan and Richard Barrett.

Treasury Holdings itself was put into liquidation in October after abandoning legal attempts to stop itself from being wound up by KBC Bank, to which it owed €70 million.