Dunne forced to sell Jurys shares

PROPERTY developer Sean Dunne, who has offered to pay €260 million for Jurys Doyle’s key Ballsbridge site, is being forced to sell just over 3% of his 18.2% stake in the hotel chain.

The Irish Takeover panel accused Mr Dunne, a key player in the battle for control of Jurys Doyle’s 33 hotel chain, of breaking stock exchange rules.

In effect, Mr Dunne has been instructed to sell enough shares to bring his stake in the group down to less than 15%. Stock-market rules bar investors from purchasing company stakes of 10% or over in a seven-day period if the deal pushes the buyer’s stake to between 15% and 30% of the equity.