Most of the general public in Ireland probably think that NAMA is fully owned by the Irish Government .  (Probably – most of the general public in Ireland don’t really care.)
If the bad debts turn out to be OK – then NAMA could make a profit – so that could be good for the taxpayer?

But – there is a small catch – PRIVATE INVESTORS  actually own 51% of  Nama’s (National Asset Management Agency) property loans.
17% is owned by Irish Life which is part of Permanent TSB
17% is owned by New Ireland – which is part of the Bank of Ireland Group
17% is owned by “major pension and institutional clients”  of AIB Investment Managers
They paid €51 Million for a 51% share in NAMA.

The government has set up an SPV  – special purpose vehicle  – to buy and manage the debts. This is a way of keeping the NAMA debts off the Irish State’s balance books -  and off the national debt. This was  done to get around   EU rules about state borrowing limits

The “SPV”  is  a separate entity to Nama and will have its own board, although this will include representatives of the asset management agency. Nama will supposedly have a veto over all of the SPV board’s decisions.

If the property loans can be managed profitably, then Nama and the private backers will be paid a yearly dividend, tied to returns from Irish Government bonds. Once the entire operation is finished, the SPV will be wound up. The Government says that the investors, that is Nama and the private backers, will only be repaid their €100 million if the resources are there.

If the loans are ultimately profitable, they will be repaid their capital plus 10 per cent – (€1.7  million for each private investor)  – once the SPV is wound up.
This means that the private backers will be repaid their €51 million, plus €5.1 million, plus any dividends they will have received along the way. Any further profits over and above these amounts will be returned to the exchequer.

However, if the property loans are not profitable, Nama and the private investors will lose their €100 million.
(In the scheme of things – the €49 million NAMA investment is a small drop in the ocean of the NAMA €80 Billion debts)

So it appears that the Irish taxpayers will have paid around €80 billion to buy overpriced property and bail out the banks. But -  51% of the debt is sold back to some of those banks – for just €51 Million !!
It’s a crazy world ….. run by bankers it seems.