Developer Sean Dunne has won control of the Jurys Doyle site at Ballsbridge, despite showing no sign yet of backing a Doyle-led takeover of the company.

A majority of shareholders in the hotel group approved Mr Dunne's €260 million deal to buy the site at an extraordinary general meeting held in Dublin's Burlington Hotel yesterday.

The Doyle sisters were not present, but they voted in favour of the deal by proxy through their solicitor. They were represented by John Gallagher, who is married to Jurys director, Bernie Gallagher.

The Beatty family also voted in favour by proxy, while Elizabeth Nelson, who is also in the Doyle-led consortium that has expressed an interest in taking over the group at a price of not less than €18.90 a share, was present and voted for the deal.

It is thought Liam Carroll, the property developer who owns 8.3 per cent of Jurys, abstained from voting. Mr Carroll is said to be taking advice on his options.

The approval of Mr Dunne's deal surprised many in the market, particularly since the developer, who has a 27.8 per cent stake in Jurys, had not agreed to back the consortium's €1.2 billion takeover approach in advance.

Mr Dunne did not attend the meeting. The Doyle consortium, which has 42 per cent of the company, tried to broker a deal with him last week, but no arrangement was reached.

The developer was not permitted to vote on the deal himself and, as such, needed the backing of the consortium to push it through. In turn, the Doyle-led group would need Mr Dunne's support to take Jurys private.

There have been suggestions that the family-led group had effectively been legally forced to back the land sale because most of its members had supported the transaction in their capacity as directors of Jurys.

These suggestions have, however, been vigorously rejected by sources familiar with the consortium's position. The group will indirectly benefit from backing the deal because they will be able to access its cash proceeds if their takeover is successful.

The consortium already controls 42 per cent of Jurys, but will need to find €692 million to pay for the remainder of the company. This borrowing requirement would, however, fall to about €435 million if Mr Dunne's €260 million could be accessed.

The developer is due to pay over the cash next week and is expected to draw on finance from Ulster Bank. He has, meanwhile, spent about €300 million building up his stake in Jurys.

Jurys chairman, Richard Hooper, said yesterday that the decision to sell the site had only been taken after "very considerable discussion" at board level. "I think we have been justified in the action we took," he said.

Shares in Jurys closed at €18.60 yesterday, up five cent.