Billionaire businessman John Magnier has said money does not mean much to him except as a way “to keep the score”.
Giving evidence on the second day of the trial over the Barne Estate in Co Tipperary, Mr Magnier said he has had good days and bad days in business, but the good days outweigh the bad.
“I’ve been fortunate,” he told the Commercial Court.
Mr Magnier, his son John Paul Magnier and his daughter Katherine Wachman are suing Barne Estate owner Richard Thomson-Moore and three companies of IQEQ (Jersey), the holding company of the estate shares, over a purported sale that occurred on August 22nd, 2023.
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They allege Mr Thomson-Moore agreed to sell the 751-acre estate to Mr Magnier for €15 million in a deal, sealed with a handshake, at Mr Magnier’s home in Coolmore. They claim the Thomson-Moores reneged on the sale and accepted an offer from American-based businessman Maurice Regan for €22.25 million.
On Wednesday, Mr Magnier said he thought he had struck a deal at his Coolmore home when he shook hands with the auctioneer John Stokes and Mr Thomson-Moore and his wife, Anna, on the evening of August 22nd.
Mr Thomson-Moore’s senior counsel Martin Hayden put it to him that Mr Magnier had bought a huge amount of property in Ireland and overseas. The barrister asked if he understands the meaning of the phrase “subject to contract”.
Mr Magnier replied: “I left school when I was 15. I haven’t a good education. I employ people to do things on my behalf ... I don’t understand – I’m not a solicitor. Whatever goes on in the legal side of our business, it is nothing I deal with.”
He said he does not understand this “legal jargon”, but has “people better than me looking after it”.
Mr Magnier said he never had any problems buying other properties.
He was pressed on whether or not he agreed with the auctioneer Mr Stokes, who said “greed” was the motivating factor for the Thomson-Moores seeking a higher price.
Mr Magnier said the lawyer was “trying to put words in my mouth”. This was Mr Stokes’s view, not his.
“I wouldn’t say they were greedy, if you ask me. I don’t think they are greedy. I think they have been misled by Mr Regan,” he said.
Mr Magnier told the court he does not know how much land he owns in Co Tipperary, but a suggestion that he might own as much as 20,000 acres was “totally false”.
He owns very little land in his own name. “I have five children and 15 grandchildren. We have a lot of employees who are in partnership with us and some start businesses on their own in Ireland.”
Mr Magnier confirmed he knew the Thomson-Moores wanted to sell the farm, which had been in the family since the mid-17th century. He knew they wanted to move to Australia to get better medical treatment for their severely disabled son.
Mr Hayden suggested there is a disparity between a billionaire and a family whose only asset is the farm and who were being offered €7.2 million more than he had offered. “Do you say that was greed?” Mr Hayden asked him.
Mr Magnier responded: “You’re trying to portray me as the bad guy here. Nobody else would have given them €15 million, including him [Mr Regan]. There is no question. We were fair and honourable with them all the way.”
Mr Magnier said Mr Regan wanted to depress the price of farmland in Co Tipperary and he [Mr Magnier] would not agree to it.
“It was personal with Mr Regan,” he said.
He was pressed on whether or not he was buying the farm or the company that owned the farm when he agreed to the sale on August 22nd, 2023.
He said his preference is for the farm, but he would keep an open mind on it, subject to his experts examining the accounts.
The trial continues before Mr Justice Max Barrett.
