The court has been hearing from the Coolmore accountant who worked on the Barne transaction, the "rumours and innuendo" around Maurice Regan's rival bid and "outrageous" claims about "head nodding" at a witness.
The Currency examines US-based construction magnate Maurice Regan’s landbank in the Premier County as he butts up against John Magnier’s Coolmore empire – along with their rivalry's perceived knock-on impact on land prices.
John Paul Magnier was quizzed in the High Court this afternoon about €50,000 passed to the Barne Estate owners which their counsel claims was to “keep them sweet” on his father's €15m bid for the property.
Joe Fitzpatrick, a solicitor handling the Barne Estate deal for Coolmore, told the High Court he understood a contract to sell to John Magnier was nearly “ready to go” in late August 2023 before the vendors went cold.
The court heard that the difficult phone call spurred John Magnier to drive immediately to the Barne Estate to push for an exclusivity agreement to block out other bids.
Counsel for sellers the Thomson Moores claimed this morning that John Magnier's account of what happened on the night he says a deal was struck for a 750-acre estate “doesn't hold water”.
In a full day of cross examination, bloodstock magnate John Magnier denied being the "bad guy" and said he didn't really understand tax matters and trusts. That's why he hired experts.
Businessman Maurice Regan did not want bloodstock magnate John Magnier to bid on the Barne Estate as he wanted to suppress the price of land in Co Tipperary, the High Court has heard.
Irish businessman Maurice Regan and crime journalist Paul Williams feature in the opening of bloodstock magnate John Magnier's bitter court battle to buy the 17th-century Barne Estate in Co Tipperary.
It was a day marked by tetchy exchanges in court, claims of bullying and ultimately delay as the row over the future ownership of the 750-acre Barne Estate in Co Tipperary stands adjourned.
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