Shareholders of Dunloe House, the property company controlled by solicitor, Mr Noel Smyth, have voted unanimously in favour of acquiring new property interests worth £21.8 million. The property interests being acquired are held by a company called Cradder Group, which is made up of properties belonging to the Monarch Group, the Aviette Group and Cherrywood Properties, which is jointly owned by Monarch and Aviette.

Because of their interests in Aviette, Mr Smyth and his wife Ann Marie, did not take part in the board's decision on the deal.The acquisitions mean the market capitalisation of Dunloe is estimated to be increasing from £25 to £61 million. According to the company, the "current buoyant state of the Irish property market" means the deal will "serve to underpin the company's net asset base".

Because the company being acquired has a higher net value than Dunloe, the acquisition is classified as a reverse takeover under Stock Exchange rules.

At the company's annual general meeting yesterday, which was followed by an extraordinary general meeting to approve the acquisitions, Mr Smyth said "building the net asset value" of the company was more important than giving shareholders a dividend "at this stage".

At last years annual meeting, Mr Smyth said the company hoped to pay a dividend in the future.

About 71 per cent of the rights issue announced three weeks ago have been taken up so far, according to Mr Smyth. He said the remaining shares would be taken by institutions.

Dunloe shareholders have to be consulted if the company decides to acquire other property interests from Mr Smyth.

This might include 3.85 acres at Sir John Rogersons Quay and 40 acres of development land in the greater Dublin area.

Speaking to The Irish Times, Mr Smyth said the company was still looking to make further acquisitions, but had no plans to concentrate on one particular area of the market.

"This deal gives us a new management structure and it means we can progress faster to develop the interests we already hold," he said.

He added that the raising of new equity capital through the rights issue would help to offset the £32 million of borrowings required for the acquisition. Dealing in Dunloe shares recommence tomorrow on the Irish stock exchange.

The company's site at Cherrywood, Loughlinstown, Co Dublin is likely to be developed very soon and some of the land is already zoned for a science and technology park.