On Monday, the US lifestyle and pharmaceutical firm spent £33m buying up assets tied to troubled craft brewer BrewDog. Its Dublin outpost, which employs over 50 people, is among them.
The Mercantile Entertainment Group, which owns popular venues like Café en Seine, The George, and Whelan’s, was founded in 2015. Regan has bought out his long-term co-shareholder in the business, an investment company founded by Michael Breslin.
Simultaneous insolvencies and new openings across the leading publican’s portfolio can be head-spinning. They reflect the fortunes of venues financed independently and carrying different baggage from pandemic times.
The Foxhunter is the latest tenant of a property placed in receivership by Paddy McKillen Jr’s property lenders to face its own insolvency proceedings.
Marshalling an army of relatives and staff, the Dublin publican is never finished re-inventing a generations-old business.
Paddy Doherty has built an electronic gates business with sales of €30m but little is known about a man who owns pubs in south Dublin, a hotel in Donegal, mining interests and has a plan for Malin Head.
The former beef executive, who went on his own five years ago, had so far invested his own money in food and hospitality businesses.
After making his fortune in the Electro Automation Group, Paddy Doherty has added a second pub along the south coast of Dublin to his interests.
Colm Wu ran several hospitality venues in Dublin. However, liquidators of various companies connected to him sought freezing orders after a detailed trawl of company documents.
About 30 staff in the venue have been told the pub is closing immediately with all entitlements and creditors paid. The bar has planning permission for 30 bedrooms.
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