Mr Noel Smyth said this evening he would welcome Mr Dermot Desmond and Mr Phil Monahan's offer for Dunloe shares if the proposal is made available to all shareholders.
Mr Smyth offered to buy Dunloe Ewart at 42.5 cents per share but this was described as inadequate by a number of major shareholders including Mr Desmond and Mr Monahan.
Mr Desmond and Mr Monahan, who are known to have fallen out with Mr Smyth some time ago, proposed to use existing surplus cash to buy back shares at 50 cents per share and "sell the remaining assets at the best possible price for the benefit of all shareholders", according to a letter released yesterday.
Mr Smyth dismissed as "petty" and "personal" some comments made by Mr Desmond and Mr Monahan in yesterday's letter. Mr Smyth said he accepted that by making an offer for Dunloe he was putting the company in play as a consequence of attempting to offer small shareholders an exit at a fair cash price.
In a statement this evening Mr Smyth said he made the offer for Dunloe as he believed it was in the interests of the shareholders for an offer to be made for the entire share capital to allow shareholders realise value for their investment in the company.
The events since then have also allowed many smaller shareholders exit at a reasonable price share capital of Dunloe has been traded at around the offer price, Mr Smyth said.
There are still some 3,000 small shareholders who must be able to avail of this proposal if it is to be fair and widespread, Mr Smyth concluded.