Trouble Brews for Anglo Irish Bank Over Turkish Businessman's Mark Hotel Deal

The Anglo Irish Bank has pulled out of a loan deal with one of the most exclusive of New York’s hotels, accepting a discount of $100 million on the loan in order to extricate itself from the deal. The $300 million loan deal connected to Manhattan’s luxury Mark Hotel was sold for just $190 to Dune Real Estate Partners investment firm.

Despite the sale, the heavily indebted hotel remains tangled in a complex legal case with Anglo Irish. Legal proceedings against the bank were brought by developers Izak Senbahar and Simon Elias in early 2011. The developers claim that Anglo Irish breached a $500 million loan deal between them that was supposed to fund the redevelopment of three hotels in Manhattan; the Mark, Flatolel and Alex. They argue that Anglo should not be allowed to sell the loans to a third party, and are demanding $1 billion in damages.