Billionaire Regan wanted to ‘depress’ Barne value and land prices – Magnier

Billionaire Maurice Regan attempted to persuade fellow billionaire John Magnier to step away from purchasing Barne Estate and keep land prices in Tipperary down, the Coolmore boss has alleged in court.

Speaking from the witness box on Wednesday, John Magnier claimed Maurice Regan contacted him about bidding for the 751ac Barne Estate.

Addressing senior counsel Martin Hayden, acting for the Barne Estate vendors, Mr Magnier told the court: “You're trying to portray me as the bad guy here. You must understand that your man, or whoever's man, Mr Regan, came to me to depress the value of that place. He asked us not to bid. He asked us to keep the price of land down in Tipperary.”

Later, Mr Magnier reiterated this point, saying Maurice Regan was “trying to get us to co-operate with him to depress the price of Barne and generally the price of land in Tipperary and we didn't want to be party to that”.

The allegation was made on the second day of the hearing into the contested sale of Barne Estate in Co Tipperary.

John Magnier, his son John Paul Magnier and daughter Katherine Wachman took the case against Richard Thomson-Moore, Barne Estate Ltd and two Jersey-registered companies - IQ EQ One and IQ EQ Two - alleging that the Barne side broke an exclusivity agreement by agreeing to sell the estate to construction magnate Maurice Regan in 2023.

Mr Regan agreed to pay €22.25m for the estate, some €7.5m more than Mr Magnier’s alleged deal at €15m.

John Magnier told the court that he had previously stood down from a land sale at Maurice Regan’s request, when Mr Regan “wanted to relocate a neighbour”.

That farm was referred to in court as Giantsgrave, a townland close to Clonmel.

While the two billionaires co-operated on that occasion, Mr Magnier referred obliquely to their more hostile relations now, saying “that was then”.'We bid against lots of people,' Mr Magnier said, adding that if Coolmore doesn’t succeed, 'there are no tears…we march on'.

Senior counsel for the Barne side, Martin Hayden told Mr Magnier he had outbid Maurice Regan for another property, referred to in court as Ben Goodbody’s farm, for €3.2m.

“We bid against lots of people,” Mr Magnier said, adding that if Coolmore doesn’t succeed, “there are no tears…we march on”.

Mr Hayden SC, acting for the defendants, said he had records of six auctions where the two billionaires - Mr Magnier and Mr Regan - competed against each other for land.

“You know more than I do,” remarked Mr Magnier. "Very often, we don’t know who we’re bidding against."

The Coolmore boss told the court that he owns “very little” land in his own name, but has land through partnerships and family members.

Asked about the source of the money to fund the various land acquisitions, Mr Magnier said: “Every case is different, but it [the money] doesn’t come from the trees, I’m not trying to be smart with you.”

Mr Hayden put it to Mr Magnier that he owned property all over the world, including Ireland, Gibraltar, Switzerland, Barbados and the Netherlands, held in “very complex structures and held by various trusts”.

Mr Magnier responded by saying: “I left school at 15, I didn’t get a very good education, I employ people who are better at that than me.”

He accused Mr Hayden of “trying to rile me” and that he was “talking too much”.

Mr Magnier rejected the suggestion that he owned as much as 20,000ac of land in Ireland as “fabrication and untrue”, but accepted that he has substantial agricultural holdings.

“We do, as a family, as a unit and with partners,” he told the court.

The Irish Farmers Journal has previously documented more than 10,000ac of land in Co Tipperary that is owned or controlled by the Magnier family, Coolmore and associated companies and individuals.

Referring specifically to his €15m bid for Barne Estate, Mr Magnier said: “That money is mine.”

Regan interferes

The court heard about a phone call between Mr Magnier’s son-in-law David Wachman and Maurice Regan on 29 August 2023.

Mr Magnier told the court that Maurice Regan told Wachman he was going to “interfere” in the sale purportedly agreed between Mr Magnier and Richard Thomson-Moore just a week previously.

Mr Wachman was driving the car and pulled over to make the call, putting the call on loudspeaker for his father-in-law to listen.

Mr Magnier’s witness statement, summarised in court, said it was clear from the conversation that Mr Regan was threatening to stop Mr Thomson-Moore from going ahead with the deal agreed with Mr Magnier on 22 August 2023.

“He [Maurice Regan] is saying he’s going to bid €5m more and you stayed quiet?” Mr Hayden asked Mr Magnier, who replied that he was "multi-tasking" in the car and reading documents while listening to the call.

Mr Hayden, who was cross-examining Mr Magnier for the defendants Richard Thomson-Moore, Barne Estate Ltd and associated Jersey-based companies, put it to Mr Magnier that he found it difficult to understand why Mr Magnier didn’t just tell Mr Regan that the deal was done for Barne and the bidding was over.

“You didn’t tell him you had done a deal because you didn’t have an enforceable agreement,” Mr Hayden put it to Mr Magnier.

Mr Magnier repeated his assertion that a deal was agreed with Richard Thomson-Moore on the night of 22 August 2023, with the agreement of the Barne Estate trustees, that he would buy Barne Estate for €15m and the option was open to Mr Magnier to decide whether to buy the farm or the shares in the company that owned the land.

Later, Mr Hayden asked John Magnier why, if he was so convinced that Maurice Regan induced the Thomson-Moores to renege on an agreed sale, he had not sued Mr Regan directly.

“Maybe I will,” Mr Magnier retorted.

The case will continue on Thursday in front of Mr Justice Max Barrett.

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