Irish bad bank plans €1bn property sale Ireland's bad bank is capitalising on growing investor confidence in the country's economic recovery by accelerating the disposal of Irish property assets in its portfolio. The National Asset Management Agency, set up to clear toxic property loans from Irish banks, plans to sell at least €1bn of Irish properties and loans next year to cash in on improving sentiment towards Ireland, which will exit its international bailout next week. "There has been incredible investor interest from both domestic and international capital," Brendan McDonagh, Nama's chief executive, told the Financial Times. People have recognised that there is a real value proposition in Ireland, which is in a turnround phase," said Brendan McDonagh, Nama's chief executive. Nama sold its first big tranche of Irish commercial property loans, which had a par value of €800m, in May to a company linked to US private equity group Starwood Capital for about €200m. Recent economic data shows residential property prices in Dublin have jumped 15 per cent over the past year, yields on commercial property are falling rapidly. "We are looking at bringing an extra €1bn of Irish assets to market in 2014," Mr McDonagh said. Nama was set up in the wake of Ireland's property and banking crisis, which eventually forced the country to accept a €67.5bn bailout from the European Union and International Monetary Fund. The bad bank had a difficult start, with loan losses higher than initially anticipated, commercial property prices falling by more than 60 per cent in Ireland and delays in sorting through a vast loan portfolio worth an estimated €32bn. But it is now benefiting from an improving Irish economy and international interest in the country. "These new investors would have seen a lot of the early movers such as Kennedy Wilson and Blackstone and we are seeing a certain amount of what we call the "capital herd mentality" take place," said Mr McDonagh. In 2010, we were meeting all these people [investors] when they were leaving Ireland and now, since mid-2012, they have all being coming back looking to invest in Ireland as the risk profile has improved. They see opportunities to make money," he said. The agency is in the final stages of negotiating an €80m deal with CarVal Investors to sell loans linked to shopping centre developments in Dublin's commuter belt. It is also expected to sell four prime office properties close to Dublin's docklands for up to €120m in coming weeks. About €1bn in capital was chasing these properties at the first-round bid stage, according to people with knowledge of the sales process. Since it was established three years ago, Nama, one of the biggest property companies in the world, has raised €15bn in cash, €10bn through property sales and €5bn in rental income. It has sold €7bn in UK property and loan portfolios and has another €7bn worth of UK assets left to sell. The agency is an investor in the £700m City Island project, developed by one of its debtors Ballymore Properties, which aims to create a "mini-Manhattan" in London's Canning Town. Mr McDonagh said he was gaining in confidence that Nama would be able to "break even" - in other words dispose of its portfolio by 2020 at no cost to the state. Last week Nama redeemed €7.5bn bonds, a crucial target in Dublin's bailout programme. This represents about a quarter of Nama's original bonds issued and guaranteed by the state when the agency bought the loans from the banks in 2009-2010.