Drink distribution firm Coman's Wholesale paid out dividends of €8.43 million in the two years after the settlement of a bitter court dispute between members of the family behind the business, new filings reveal.
One of the State's largest independent drink wholesalers, the Tallaght-based company was at the centre of a public confrontation in 2004 between the elderly founders of the business, Patrick and Mary Coman, and five of their six sons. Coman's of Rathgar, the landmark family-owned pub, also featured.
At issue in the dispute were the terms of the transfer of the parents' 52 per cent interest in the business, a shareholding valued at some €7.05 million, to their sons in inconclusive settlement talks in 2003. The case was ultimately settled out-of-court in August 2004 after five days of hearings before Mr Justice Finnegan. The terms of the deal were never revealed.
But accounts recently filed in the Companies Office for the period in which the settlement was made show that dividend payments from Coman's Wholesale Ltd increased almost tenfold to €6.2 million in the year to February 2005, when the parents and sons were still shareholders. New accounts for the period to February 2006 show dividend payments of €2.23 million.
Separate filings for Patrick Coman Ltd, the holding company which owns the wholesale business, show that the parents and some of their sons are no longer shareholders. The business is now 50 per cent owned by Geoffrey Coman, with Thomas Coman and John Coman each holding a 25 per cent interest.
Coman's Wholesale is revealed in the latest accounts to have made an operating profit of €1.63 million in the year to February 2006 on a turnover of €84.42 million. The operating profit a year earlier was €1.49 million on sales of €80.67 million.
Established in 1959, the wholesale company employs about 130 staff. It distributes most of the well-known drink brands to bars, clubs and off-licences in the greater Dublin area. The business is also the exclusive national agent for drink brands such as Dutch Gold, Holsten beer and Boru vodka. "The directors envisage no future significant changes in the company's principal activities," the latest accounts said.
Mr Justice Finnegan indicated during the course of the case that there would be "nothing left for anyone" of the disputed €7 million if the parties "don't get some sense". The judge had been asked to resolve the meaning and effect of an alleged agreement at a meeting in February 2003 between the parents and sons Geoffrey, John, Patrick jnr, Thomas and Denis.
The sons claimed the agreement involved their parents resigning immediately as directors of the business in return for a payment in respect of their shares. The parents maintained that there was no concluded agreement. Both sides gave different accounts of the meeting. The dispute was ongoing for many years before that.
