Somers has been a fixture of corporate scene for decades
FOR decades Bernard Somers has been the leading adviser to high-profile and corporate borrowers seeking debt advice. He has been a fixture of Ireland’s corporate scene for decades, serving on numerous boards and rubbing shoulders with those in the top echelons of business life here.
In 2008 he stood down from the board of AIB to avoid any possible conflict of interest because his business, Somers & Associates, was advising some of the country’s biggest businesses on how to cope with the fallout from the crash.
A graduate of University College Dublin, Mr Somers is an accountant by training.
The financier was also, at one stage, an adviser to former Anglo Irish Bank chief executive Sean Fitz-Patrick regarding his debts. He performed a similar role as adviser to Tony O’Reilly. Once Ireland’s richest man, Mr O’Reilly was declared bankrupt in 2015.
Mr Somers’s debt restructuring expertise has been highly sought after. He once advised on cutting costs at CIÉ, and was examiner to video rental chain Xtravision two decades ago.
He also drew up a turnaround plan to save Aer Lingus in 2001, when it was losing €2m a week in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.
Two decades ago, he advised Larry Goodman on his submissions to the Beef Tribunal, and Ben Dunne in his family trust case. He also advised former TD Ivan Yates in efforts to reach a debt settlement with banks.
An investor in his own right, he has been involved in a swathe of companies over the years, as well has having been a director of AIB and the Central Bank and a number of stock market firms such as INM, DCC, and Irish Continental.