Brendan Murtagh insolvent, court told

BUSINESSMAN BRENDAN Murtagh is insolvent, the Commercial Court heard yesterday. Mr Murtagh and two other businessmen are being pursued for €28.1 million by investors related to Polish property deals and all three have had total judgments for more than €60 million entered against them.

The €60 million sum includes a €28.1 million judgment secured last month by Loparco SA, a Luxembourg-registered firm through which various investors invested some €20 million in four Polish companies to be managed by the Howard Holdings property group.

Loparco secured a €28.1 million judgment last November after claiming Greg Coughlan had failed to adhere to agreements relating to the investment.

Mr Coughlan, Mr Murtagh and Brian Madden had all guaranteed the performance by Mr Coughlan of his obligations and judgment for €28.1 million was obtained against all three. That order increased to some €60 million the total judgment orders entered against them, the EBS having just days earlier secured judgment for some €33 million.

Loparco is now seeking to recover its judgment and wants to establish the assets and liabilities of all three men.

Yesterday, Gary McCarthy, for Mr Murtagh, Dunheeda, Kingscourt, Co Cavan, referred to the insolvency of his client in reply to Mr Justice Peter Kelly when counsel sought more time to provide a sworn statement of the assets and liabilities of his client, including any assets he held in 41 companies in the Howard Holdings group.

Similar statements of affairs are sought from Mr Coughlan, Fastnet House, Ardbrack, Kinsale, Co Cork, and Mr Madden, Well Road, Douglas, Cork. Mr Justice Kelly said he would, with some misgivings, allow until Tuesday next for the three to provide statements of affairs related to their personal assets and until Friday next to provide statements of affairs related to any assets in Howard Holdings, the structure of which was akin to a "spider's web".

There would be no more time given beyond that and there were serious consequences if the information in those affidavits was not correct, he said.

Noting the statements of affairs should have been lodged yesterday, the judge added he was suspicious that Mr Coughlan and Mr Murtagh had just changed their legal teams and were now arguing this necessitated having more time to lodge the statements of affairs.

Mr McCarthy said providing a statement of Mr Murtagh's personal assets, which included a shareholding in Kinsgpan and properties, was not the difficulty but the Howard structure was complex and his side required time to ensure the court was given accurate details of any shareholdings.

Mr Madden was primarily involved in the executive role of organising that structure, counsel added.

Mr Madden, representing himself, said he had worked until midnight over the past three weeks to establish the facts relating to the Howard Holdings companies and was almost finished. He would provide the material sought on those firms to Mr Murtagh and Mr Coughlan. Mr Madden added Mr Coughlan was in hospital for four days for a heart operation.

The judge also yesterday told Eileen Barrington, for the investors, that he would defer to March 4th next any cross-examination of the defendants on those statements, should the investors wish to cross examine.

Building on success: how one of Kingspan's founders became a leading figure in corporate Ireland

SUZANNE LYNCH

CAVAN-BUSINESSMAN turned property developer Brendan Murtagh has been a leading figure in corporate Ireland since the 1970s. He founded construction company Kingspan with his brother Eugene, reputedly from the back yard of the family pub in Co Cavan.

The banning of asbestos as a building material in the 1970s and the arrival of multinationals into Ireland offered the young construction company with plenty of opportunities, and it soon expanded into electrical and mechanical installation work and from there to an involvement in structural steel.

In 1998, Murtagh resigned from Kingspan’s board after it emerged that two people connected to his sons bought shares in a takeover target of the company.

During the two years Murtagh was off the board, he increased his property holdings, raising his stake in Anglo Irish property group Howard Holdings from 16 per cent to 25 per cent. He became an active investor in exploration firms and was involved in the failed MMI Stockbrokers. It folded in March 1999 with unsettled trades involving its clients of £13 million.

In 2006, Murtagh bought out troubled telco Smart Telecom. It was to prove a less than auspicious investment. The takeover became the subject of a protracted legal battle with former Smart chief executive Oisin Fanning, while in August last year an examiner was appointed to the company. Dundalk-based rival Digiweb stepped in to rescue the company.

More recently, Murtagh has been the subject of several court cases. In October, ESB sought summary judgement of €31.5 million against him and two other businessmen arising from loans given to two companies for the development of lands in Cork.

In June 2009, the Monaghan Family Trust sought summary judgment for €11.9 million against Murtagh and others over money allegedly loaned by the trust for a major development in Poland