The sidekick f irm behind Tyrrelstown vulture fund

BEHIND every renowned vulture fund lie a posse of sidekicks making their living by ensuring all goes smoothly. When it comes to Goldman Sachs – and its ownership of loans secured on Cruise Park estate in Tyrrelstown, Dublin – the sidekick is Australian-owned firm Pepper.

Established in Ireland in 2012, the Pepper Group employs 400 people in Dublin and Shannon and deals with thousands of distressed mortgages and homeowners whose loans have been taken over by vulture funds.

Documents related to the loans secured on the homes in Tyrrelstown show that Pepper is the security agent responsible for shepherding Goldman Sachs’s interests in the deal.

Pepper, like Goldman Sachs, likes to nurture its reputation and takes pride in its sponsorship of Shamrock Rovers, which not all Hoops supporters are happy about. One posted online recently: ‘At its core, Pepper are profiting off the misery of families, victims of a property bubble they had no control or say in.’

Pepper also attracted criticism recently when it was among a number of vulture fund-related firms that refused to attend the Oireachtas Finance Committee, which committee members described as ‘deeply disappointing’.

In a statement to the MoS, a Pepper spokesman said the firm declined the Oireachtas invitation for ‘reasons of client confidentiality’ since it could not ‘answer client-related questions in a public forum’. He said the firm – which recently announced its intention to enter the mortgage provision market here – would be giving ‘due consideration’ to any future requests to attend the Oireachtas.