Shareholders in Dunloe House have agreed to change the name of the company to Dunloe Ewart to reflect the acquisition of the Belfast-based firm and the creation of an all-Ireland property company.
Chairman Mr Noel Smyth told the annual meeting that Dunloe now had 97 per cent acceptances of its bid for Ewart.
In another move related to the acquisition, shareholders approved a motion allowing annual meetings to be held in Northern Ireland as well as the Republic. They also elected Ewart directors Mr Harold Ennis and Mr Brian O'Connor to the Dunloe board.
Following the main meeting, an extraordinary meeting was held to approve the acquisition of a development site at Sir John Rogerson's Quay from Burwood, a company wholly owned by Mr Smyth.
At the time the site came up for sale, Dunloe did not have the financial capacity to acquire it. Instead the site was purchased by Mr Smyth but Dunloe acquired an option to acquire it at market value at a future date.
Dunloe now plans to acquire Burwood for a total of £9.4 million. Of this, £7.7 million is in respect of the site and the balance of £1.7 million refers to the tax treatment of certain items. Including related costs, Mr Smyth paid £4.9 million to acquire the site.
Some shareholders queried the price but Mr Smyth told them that the site had been independently valued at £8.25 million and an offer of around £13 million had been received for it in the last three weeks.
Dunloe's managing director Mr Philip Byrne said the company's independent directors were happy that acquisition of the site presented a unique opportunity and that Dunloe would get a good return.
"We are very happy with the value we got for it. We could sell the site at the moment and get a profit on it," he said.
Mr Smyth said Dunloe planned to move ahead with developing the site and would not wait for other developments in the Docklands. Dunloe is currently in joint venture discussions with haulage contractors Molloy and Sherry Transport Limited, who are adjoining owners, about the development.
Asked about the impact of changes in the rules governing investor involvement in the property market, Mr Smyth said Dunloe was involved in a niche market, developing a specialised type of unit with a high return.
The sites the company has are still covered by Section 23 tax breaks while they are generally in locations where the company would still make a handsome profit, even if Section 23 disappeared.
