Carroll bids to get back Dunloe rights

Media-shy property developer Mr Liam Carroll will seek to get back voting rights on his Dunloe shares two hours before the company…

Media-shy property developer Mr Liam Carroll will seek to get back voting rights on his Dunloe shares two hours before the company holds an extraordinary general meeting today.

Mr Carroll owns 28.5 per cent of Dunloe, worth close to €40 million, and is its largest single shareholder. The company last month disenfranchised him as it said he had failed to reply to a query concerning his interest in the company.

The company used section 79 of the Companies Acts 1990 to remove Mr Carroll's voting and other rights, because it said Mr Carroll had made incorrect notifications to the company as to the size of his shareholding at various times.

Mr Carroll was ready to apply to the High Court yesterday for the return of his rights in relation to the shares but the case was not heard. It was put back to 9 a.m. today. Dunloe is scheduled to hold its e.g.m. in Cherrywood, Dublin, at 11 a.m. The e.g.m. is being held to vote on a deal where Dunloe will buy out the interests of British Land in the Cherrywood mixed use development.

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Dunloe will be represented at this morning's hearing and intends proceeding with its e.g.m. unless served with a High Court injunction instructing it not to do so.

A sub-committee of the Dunloe board was established last month at the time the company disenfranchised Mr Carroll. It is understood Mr Carroll has been in contact with the sub-committee over recent weeks though the nature of those contacts are not known.

Mr Smyth is not on the sub-committee as he wanted to remove any indications that the dispute with Mr Carroll was a personal one between the two men.

It is not a "personality squabble" he said last month.

Colm Keena

Colm Keena

Colm Keena is an Irish Times journalist. He was previously legal-affairs correspondent and public-affairs correspondent