Rueben brothers out of Jurys race

THE battle for control of Jurys Doyle took a fresh twist yesterday when British property billionaires the Reuben brothers were booted out of the race.

The Irish Stock Exchange’s Takeover Panel said Aldersgate Investments, the brothers’ investment vehicle, could play no further part in making a bid for the hotel operator because of its links to Precinct Investments, owner of the Gresham group that walked away from a potential bid last month. Stock exchange rules dictate parties that fail to make a bid before a Takeover Panel deadline must wait 12 months before making a fresh approach. Aldersgate had been a supporter of the Precinct approach, which originally valued Jurys Doyle at €960 million before upping its indicative price to €1.1 billion.

But the approach collapsed after Precinct ran into trouble securing bank financing for the deal and the Jurys board pulled the plug on its support.