Billionaire John Magnier’s case over collapsed €15m Tipperary land deal begins in High Court

High Court Reporter

Coolmore Stud bloodstock billionaire John Magnier’s legal action over a collapsed €15 million Co Tipperary land deal has opened at the High Court.

The hearing is expected to last three weeks.

Lawyers acting for Mr Magnier are claiming that Maurice Regan, the US-based construction magnate allegedly engaged in a “full frontal assault” on a property deal for the Barne Estate after it was purportedly agreed in August 2023.

Mr Magnier was present in court for the opening of the case.

Mr Magnier’s proceedings are anchored in the claim that the owners of the Barne Estate reneged on a purported deal to sell the 751-acre estate to him for €15 million, instead choosing to sell to Mr Regan for a higher price.

Opening the case on Tuesday before Mr Justice Max Barrett, Paul Gallagher SC, for the Magniers, claimed that Mr Regan’s pursuit of the land breached an exclusivity agreement made on the purported deal between representatives of the estate and Mr Magnier.

Mr Magnier – along with his adult children John Paul Magnier and Kate Wachman – wants to enforce the alleged deal.

They say the deal was struck at an August 22nd, 2023, meeting at Mr Magnier’s Coolmore Stud. They also claim an exclusivity agreement, stipulating that the estate not permit its representatives to solicit or encourage any expression of interest, inquiry or offer on the property from anyone other than Mr Magnier, was in effect from August 31st to September 30th.

Barne Estate is held for the benefit of Richard Thomson-Moore, his sister Alexandra, their children, and their spouses by a Jersey trust.

The Magniers have sued the Barne Estate, Mr Thomson-Moore and three companies of IQEQ (Jersey) Ltd group seeking to enforce the purported deal.

The Barne defendants say there was never any such agreement and subsequently they agreed to sell it for €22.5 million to Mr Regan, founder of the New York building firm JT Magen.

Mr Regan is not a party to the case.

Mr Gallagher claimed that a local estate agent involved in the deal, John Stokes, appeared “visibly shaken” when he visited Mr Magnier following calls from Mr Regan after the deal was claimed to be agreed.

Mr Gallagher also told the court that Mr Regan allegedly arranged for crime journalist Paul Williams to contact Stokes.

“The implication was that his [Mr Regan’s] exclusion from the bidding process was somehow unlawful,” said Mr Gallagher.