Private equity vehicle RQB, which was set up by developer Paddy Kelly's family vehicle Redquartz and corporate financier Niall McFadden of Boundary Capital, is in talks with investors and banks to negotiate an extension facility for a site it owns at Malahide in north Dublin. The company has met its investors about the extension facility.

"Like all property-related assets funded by debt and equity, the market is very challenging and valuations have dropped. Developers and investors are looking at ways to extend the banking facilities until the market changes. In the current climate, where banks are no longer rolling up interest, the developer and investors are looking at strategies to fund the interest payments and negotiations are ongoing between the company, the investors and the banks on that basis," the company said in a statement in response to queries from this newspaper.

It said its London site, a joint venture with Ballymore, has full banking facilities in place until the end of 2010 and a site at Pelletstown in west Dublin has banking in place until April 2009.

"RQB is managing both of these sites for the long term," the company said.

RQB was established in May 2005, and according to Boundary Capital's 2007 annual report, has 600 clients. The report also said that, in November 2007, Boundary Capital entered a secured loan agreement with RQB, lending €4.3m at a 20%-per-annum coupon. Boundary has an option to have the loan repaid in full with the coupon or to convert the loan into equity in RQB no later than 31 December 2008.

According to its website, RQB clients also invested in the Sawgrass Marriott at Augusta in Florida, a site at Castleknock and the Club company in Britain which operates country clubs. RQB and its investors made a €20.5m profit on the sale of a site at Naas Road in Dublin.

According to the Companies Office, one of the directors of RQB is Simon Kelly, who is also a shareholder in Thomas Read Holdings, the pub and restaurant group that went into examinership last week.