The High Court has dismissed a claim that a share offer for two companies in the family-owned PJ Walls property group was unfair or represented a "gross" undervaluation of the companies.

However, while rejecting on all grounds the claim brought by Dr Patrick Joseph Walls against PJ Walls Holdings Ltd, Mr Justice Smyth was yesterday critical of delays by the defendant company in giving Dr Walls certain documents, including an important memorandum relevant to the share offer, and he appeared to indicate he might take this into account when addressing the issue of the costs of the case.

The judge suggested the parties might wish to consider things anew and he listed the case for mention on November 12th.

The proceedings arose from an offer by PJ Walls Holdings on October 7th, 2003, to acquire the shares of Walls Properties Ltd and a linked company, Thornhill Properties Ltd. All three are private companies owned by members of the Walls family.

Dr Walls claimed the €20.5 million valuation offered was between €8.9 and €15 million short of true value. He was also concerned the payments were to be structured over six years.

The principal asset of PJ Walls Properties is land and an office building at Northern Cross, Co Dublin. A hotel is being developed on the site and there is also outline planning permission for 225 apartments.

The defendants rejected Dr Walls' claims and contended the €20.5 million offer was "fair and reasonable" and plainly in the overall interests of the immediate shareholders in the companies and of the group as a whole. The offer had been accepted by the vast majority of shareholders and none supported Dr Walls' objections to the share offer, they said.

In his reserved judgment, Mr Justice Smyth said Dr Walls had failed to prove the offer was "obviously and convincingly" unfair.