Sir Anthony O’Reilly has been declared bankrupt by a court in the Bahamas and given the go-ahead to file for a personal insolvency arrangement.

The move will give him protection from creditors under Bahamian bankruptcy law, despite objections by AIB, one of his creditors. He will now be able to apply for a formal deal with creditors, know as a composition, which would involve the sale of assets and the distribution of the proceeds to creditors.