PROPERTY INVESTOR Derek Quinlan has not yet agreed to sell his 35 per cent stake in the Maybourne group, the luxury five-star London hotel chain, and was not likely to sell unilaterally, according to his financial adviser.
Sources close to Sir David and Sir Frederick Barclay and reports in the UK media this week said the brothers reached agreement with Mr Quinlan to purchase his 35 per cent stake in the group.
Gerry Murphy of Dublin firm QCrest Management Services, which is providing financial advice to Mr Quinlan, said no agreement was reached on the sale of his stake. The purchase of his stake must be approved by the National Asset Management Agency (Nama), which acquired his Irish bank loans. Nama has security over part of Mr Quinlan’s equity in the hotel group.
"We will seek the approval of our banks/Nama if an offer is received for all the shares [in] Maybourne and we were minded to accept the price," Mr Murphy said in a statement to The Irish Times.
“Derek Quinlan has not agreed to sell his shares. Moreover, we would be most unlikely to accept an offer on a unilateral basis as this would not maximise the return of our creditors.”
Mr Murphy said Mr Quinlan welcomed “a new shareholder of the calibre of the Barclay brothers”.
Mr Quinlan led the purchase of the group for €1.1 billion in 2004 in a highly leveraged deal financed in part by Anglo Irish Bank before selling off the Savoy hotel, which was then part of the group.
The Barclay brothers, who own The Ritz in London and the Daily Telegraph newspaper, acquired the 25 per cent stake of the group from the family of businessman Peter Green last week.
That purchase was seen as a precursor to the Barclays seeking to take control of the group, which owns Claridge’s, The Berkeley and the Connaught hotels in London.
Property investor Paddy McKillen has ruled out selling his 37 per cent stake. His spokeswoman said he had no interest in selling and intends to hold his shares for the long-term.