Sold for 10c - solicitor's [euro]285m block in Sweden

A LANDMARK Swedish property bought for [euro]285million by Vico Capital, the investment company headed by beleaguered Dublin solicitor Brian O'Donnell, has been sold for just 10c.
The office block in Stockholm was the jewel in the crown of a range of properties bought by Mr O'Donnell and his wife, Mary Pat, a doctor.
Their companies owe [euro]800million to a number of banks. The couple hit the headlines last year when a bank sought [euro]71million from them after a London property in their portfolio - the Sanctuary Building - was sold for [euro]202million.
Vico bought the Fatburen office block in Stockholm at the height of the property boom. It has now sold for one Swedish kroner, or around 10c.
Vico's Swedish lender, Aareal Bank, sold the building at a private auction last summer after an issue over repayments arose.
Vico is now believed to be seeking damages of [euro]64million from the bank, and has filed a case against Aareal in the Swedish courts.
In a statement, the bank said the claim was unfounded.
The bank also denied claims circulating in the Swedish press that the buyer of the Fatburen building was a subsidiary of the bank.
A bank spokesman explained that it had redeemed company shares pledged in its favour via an auction last summer.
'Aareal Bank does not hold any interest in the company which now holds the shares,' he added. 'Personnel overlaps between the two companies do not exist either.' Brian O'Donnell and his wife, who are from south Dublin, bought a string of properties across the world during the Celtic Tiger years, including an office near the White House.
Another purchase, the Sanctuary Building, was a prime-location asset located near Westminster Abbey and used by the UK's Department of Education.