The sale of Barne Estate for €15m was “unequivocally” agreed during a meeting with its owners in John Magnier’s house on 22 August 2023, legal counsel for the bloodstock billionaire told the High Court on Tuesday.
The 751ac tillage farm in south Tipperary, owned by Richard Thomson-Moore’s family since 1654, was put up for sale during the summer of 2023 at a guide price of €13.5m.
The court heard that Richard Thomson-Moore, in negotiations led by auctioneer John Stokes, agreed to sell the land to Coolmore’s John Magnier for €15m, but was then “beguiled” by another higher bidder.
This has resulted in the legal proceedings being taken by Magnier and his children John Paul Magnier and Katherine Wachman against Barne Estate for going sale agreed with Maurice Regan for €22.25m.
Prior to the meeting on 22 August, a number of bids on Magnier’s behalf were made for Barne Estate, the highest being €11.25m on 16 August, and in order to progress the sale, he invited the Thomson-Moores to his house to do a deal, legal counsel for Coolmore Paul Gallagher said.
Deal
Taking the stand on Tuesday, John Magnier was asked if he has ever had to go to court before in respect of a deal like this.
In response, he said: "No, this is my first day here. Ever."
He said that everybody was clearly very happy with the deal that was done on the night of 22 August in his kitchen.
“Between the jigs and the reels, we were going backwards and forwards, €14m was the first bid we made. We didn’t make any progress there, they weren’t happy with the €14m, so I think we did €15m plus the machinery and then finally they went out of the room for the second or third time to consider the €15m without the machinery.
“We were [previously] bidding €11.25m, so to get certainty we were prepared to bid €15m knowing that we had a deal that we all agreed on,” Magnier said.
He told the court that John Stokes led the Thomson-Moores back into the kitchen after they discussed the final bid, “put out his hand and said John we have a deal”.
Obvious interest
“It wasn’t subject to anything, he had a smile on his face, he shook my hand and we all shook hands together and everybody was clearly very happy.”
Magnier told the court that he was interested in buying Barne Estate because it is a very good farm and is located beside where Coolmore has its operations – “it would be obvious for us to be interested in,” he said.
Magnier stressed that if he was not planning to do a deal and merely making bids, he would not have invited the Thomson-Moores to his house – he would have done it through “the man in the office”.
“We were all there on the basis that everybody wanted to do a deal. We were going away the following morning early, this was at eight o’clock at night. We were there on a serious basis and everybody understood why we were there,” he said.
Present in the kitchen during negotiations were Magnier himself, Magnier’s wife Susan, Coolmore’s farm manager Joe Holohan, John Stokes, Richard Thomson-Moore and Mrs Anna Thomson-Moore, Magnier said.
According to Magnier, there was a good atmosphere after the deal was struck, everybody was in a “pretty jovial mood” and the Thomson-Moores stayed on to join the Magniers for their supper.
Read more
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The sale of Barne Estate for €15m was “unequivocally” agreed during a meeting with its owners in John Magnier’s house on 22 August 2023, legal counsel for the bloodstock billionaire told the High Court on Tuesday.
The 751ac tillage farm in south Tipperary, owned by Richard Thomson-Moore’s family since 1654, was put up for sale during the summer of 2023 at a guide price of €13.5m.
The court heard that Richard Thomson-Moore, in negotiations led by auctioneer John Stokes, agreed to sell the land to Coolmore’s John Magnier for €15m, but was then “beguiled” by another higher bidder.
This has resulted in the legal proceedings being taken by Magnier and his children John Paul Magnier and Katherine Wachman against Barne Estate for going sale agreed with Maurice Regan for €22.25m.
Prior to the meeting on 22 August, a number of bids on Magnier’s behalf were made for Barne Estate, the highest being €11.25m on 16 August, and in order to progress the sale, he invited the Thomson-Moores to his house to do a deal, legal counsel for Coolmore Paul Gallagher said.
Deal
Taking the stand on Tuesday, John Magnier was asked if he has ever had to go to court before in respect of a deal like this.
In response, he said: "No, this is my first day here. Ever."
He said that everybody was clearly very happy with the deal that was done on the night of 22 August in his kitchen.
“Between the jigs and the reels, we were going backwards and forwards, €14m was the first bid we made. We didn’t make any progress there, they weren’t happy with the €14m, so I think we did €15m plus the machinery and then finally they went out of the room for the second or third time to consider the €15m without the machinery.
“We were [previously] bidding €11.25m, so to get certainty we were prepared to bid €15m knowing that we had a deal that we all agreed on,” Magnier said.
He told the court that John Stokes led the Thomson-Moores back into the kitchen after they discussed the final bid, “put out his hand and said John we have a deal”.
Obvious interest
“It wasn’t subject to anything, he had a smile on his face, he shook my hand and we all shook hands together and everybody was clearly very happy.”
Magnier told the court that he was interested in buying Barne Estate because it is a very good farm and is located beside where Coolmore has its operations – “it would be obvious for us to be interested in,” he said.
Magnier stressed that if he was not planning to do a deal and merely making bids, he would not have invited the Thomson-Moores to his house – he would have done it through “the man in the office”.
“We were all there on the basis that everybody wanted to do a deal. We were going away the following morning early, this was at eight o’clock at night. We were there on a serious basis and everybody understood why we were there,” he said.
Present in the kitchen during negotiations were Magnier himself, Magnier’s wife Susan, Coolmore’s farm manager Joe Holohan, John Stokes, Richard Thomson-Moore and Mrs Anna Thomson-Moore, Magnier said.
According to Magnier, there was a good atmosphere after the deal was struck, everybody was in a “pretty jovial mood” and the Thomson-Moores stayed on to join the Magniers for their supper.
Read more
Legal wrangling pushes Barne Estate showdown back to April
Court orders Magnier to disclose documents in Barne Estate row
Regan signs €20m-plus sale contract for Barne Estate
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