The Irish Takeover Panel has ruled that three of the largest shareholders in Dunloe Ewart, Mr Liam Carroll, Mr Dermot Desmond and Mr Phil Monahan, are not acting in concert.

The panel considered a request from Dunloe to investigate whether the three, all of whom recently voted against Dunloe's plans for its Cherrywood joint venture, were acting together.

"The panel has carefully considered the submissions from the relevant parties and has ruled, on the basis of the information currently available to it, that no evidence has been adduced that justifies a finding that Mr Carroll, Mr Desmond and Mr Monahan are acting in concert," it said.

It added that "no factual information" had been provided to the panel to justify a hearing on this matter.

Dunloe is currently the subject of a 42.5 cent per share offer from its executive chairman, Mr Noel Smyth, made through a company called Valdot. Had the three men, who between them control more than 43 per cent of Dunloe shares, been found to be acting in concert, they could have been forced to make a counter offer.

None of the three large shareholders has commented on the current offer but they are considered unlikely to accept Mr Smyth's bid at current levels, making it difficult for him to get the 50 per cent support he needs for the offer to succeed.

Meanwhile, it emerged yesterday that Mr Carroll now controls 28.9 per cent of Dunloe, just short of the 29.9 per cent level that would force him to bid for the company, after building up his stake in recent days.

Mr Carroll - who is one of the largest property developers in Dublin - has been an investor in Dunloe since 2000. He has successfully blocked several initiatives by Mr Smyth, including an earlier attempt to take the company private. He has never commented publicly on why he has invested in Dunloe, but is widely thought to want control of its Sir John Rogerson Quay site which is the largest remaining undeveloped site in the Dublin city centre.

Mr Carroll bought shares in Dunloe on Friday, Monday and Tuesday at prices between 42 cents and 43 cents per share.

Dunloe shares closed unchanged at 43 cents last night with some three million shares changing hands. It was not clear last night who the latest buyers of the stock were.

Mr Monahan holds 6.7 per cent of the company while Mr Dermot Desmond owns 7.86 per cent.