Billionaire John Magnier has told the High Court that a cross-examining lawyer “tried to paint me in a negative light” in a trial in which he claims he negotiated the purchase of land in County Tipperary that ultimately fell through because the owners preferred a higher price.
Mr Magnier also told the High Court on Wednesday that he had brought in legal and financial experts because some of the advice decisions were “beyond my expertise”.
The founder of renowned stud farm Coolmore Stud also revealed that when he enquired about the status of his €15m bid, which he said he had made in 2023 but was later outbid, the estate agent involved in the deal told him: “One word, John: greed.”
Lawyers representing Mr Magnier told the High Court that US property magnate Maurice Regan, the preferred buyer, had launched a “full-out attack” on Mr Magnier's proposed €15m deal to buy 751 acres of land in Tipperary.
Mr Magnier's lawsuit alleges that the Barne Estate, having abandoned the proposed deal, chose to sell the land at a higher price of €22.25 million to Mr Regan, the founder of New York-based development company JT Magen.
Mr. Magnier claims that Mr. Regan's actions and his efforts to acquire the land violated the exclusive right agreement between the estate and Mr. Magnier.
Mr. Magnier – along with his adult children, John Paul Magnier and Kate Wachman – is seeking to see the proposed deal through.
They claim the deal was reached at a kitchen meeting on August 22, 2023, at Mr Magnier's home in Coolmore. They also point out that the exclusivity agreement, which ran from August 31 to September 30, stipulated that the estate would not allow its representatives to solicit or encourage any offers for the property from anyone other than Mr Magnier.
The Barne Estate is held by a Jersey trust for the benefit of Richard Thomson-Moore and others.
The Magniers are suing the Barne Estate, Mr Thomson-Moore and three IQEQ (Jersey) Ltd companies in an attempt to enforce the proposed deal, which they say was “clearly” agreed.
The defendants in the Barna case claim that no such agreement existed and that they subsequently chose to sell the estate to Mr. Regan.
Mr. Regan is not a party to this case.
At the High Court, Mr Magnier confirmed his billionaire status under cross-examination when questioned by Judge Martin Hayden, for the defence, saying: “I hope so – I'm lucky.”
Mr Magnier said he had become aware of a health condition requiring treatment among members of the Thomson-Moore family and that they were selling land to move to Australia to obtain better treatment for one of the family members.
Mr Magnier said he did not consider the Thomson-Moore family to be “greedy”, claiming he had treated them “fairly and decently” and that the comment about their alleged “greed” was made to him by an estate agent.
He told the court he believed Mr Regan may have “misled” the Thomson-Moores in the deal, which Mr Magnier claims was designed to keep land prices in Tipperary low.
Mr Magnier also told Mr Hayden that he did not believe the Thomson-Moores had acted “greedily” in choosing Mr Regan's offer, which was €7.25m higher than his own.
Mr Magnier told Mr Hayden that he left school at 15 with a “not very good education” and that he brought in “experts” in legal and financial matters to help him make business decisions because it was “above my pay grade”.
Asked by Mr Haydon how much land he personally owned in Tipperary, the billionaire replied: “Very little” and that reports he owned 20,000 acres were “completely false”.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
