McKillen could be irrational at times, says Quinlan

PROPERTY DEVELOPER Patrick McKillen “could be very irrational sometimes”, financier Derek Quinlan told the high court in London yesterday.

In his final day of cross-examination, Mr Quinlan repeatedly denied he had acted against the interests of his creditors in his dealings with the billionaire Barclay brothers.

Mr McKillen’s barrister, Philip Marshall, read out text messages dating back to early last year from one of the brothers, David, and a Barclay executive, declaring they were “in control” of the hotels.

However, Mr Quinlan denied that the texts proved he had agreed to hand over control of his shares to them in return for payments to be made directly to him and his wife, Siobhán.

Despite Mr McKillen’s objections to the Barclays, Mr Quinlan said they were the first investors to appear who “could write a cheque” to help deal with Coroin’s indebtedness.

During 2010, he said, billionaire investor Robert Tchenguiz’s company, Aabar had been “very, very aggressive” towards him. Aabar, who held a charge over some of his hotel shares, had offered them to Ellerman, a Barclay company.

“I was not being co-operative because they were very, very threatening and bullying at the time.”

He accepted that Nama executive Paul Hennigan had queried in January 2011 his decision to buy a new Range Rover, which he said had been bought by his wife on hire purchase.

Nama had been told by David Barclay’s son, Aidan, that the Barclay brothers were helping the Quinlans; but Mr Hennigan did not ask for the sums involved and “Mr Barclay did not volunteer them”.

His associate, Gerry Murphy, said Mr Quinlan had not wanted to sell the hotels, but if he had to sell his stake, he wanted it to be as part of a deal to sell the company.

“[He] was convinced he would be able to achieve the best possible price for his shares from a Gulf-based investor,” said Mr Murphy, who will continue giving evidence today.

In September 2009, the two men travelled to Abu Dhabi to meet Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan to interest him in Quinlan assets, including Banco Santander’s Madrid headquarters.

“We were met by a Rolls Royce at the steps of the plane courtesy of Sheikh Nahyan,” he said, adding that they were quickly taken to the prince’s palace.

“It was clear to me that Sheikh Nahyan respected and really liked Mr Quinlan, as he put him sitting right beside him at the top of the principal’s podium,” he said.

Mr Murphy said in his witness statement that he and Mr Quinlan sat “within a few seats” of the crown prince of Abu Dhabi and the British ambassador at a later function, a lecture on Compassion in Islam delivered by a Saudi cleric, and were “getting the full ‘royal’ treatment”.

After the lecture they were taken to “another feast in one of the largest tents I have ever seen”, Mr Murphy said.

Mr Quinlan had opposed a bid from two US hedge funds in 2010, he said, because a quick sale at “seriously depressed prices” would have been “a disaster for Mr Quinlan’s creditors”.