Quinlan could bid for Jurys Doyle
Mr Quinlan, who owns London's Maybourne Hotel group along with other Irish millionaires, is said to have engaged brokers NCB to advise on a possible bid.
He was reportedly looking at a takeover that would get the support of the Doyle and Beattie families, who own more than 30% of Jurys and oppose the offer by Precinct Investments.
Financing a takeover of Jurys Doyle which is valued at €1.1 billion would not be problem for Mr Quinlan. The former Revenue Commissioners tax inspector advises most of Ireland's millionaires on investments.
Apart from the Maybourne Hotel group, he owns several Four Seasons Hotels in Ireland and Europe, and land in London's Knightsbridge area.
Attempts to contact Mr Quinlan for comment yesterday were unsuccessful.
Last month Precinct, owned by developers Bryan Cullen, JJ Murphy and Dave Coleman, upped their bid for Jurys to €17.50 a share and won the support of a majority of the hotel group's board.
Precinct has until Friday evening to make a formal offer for the company, following a ruling by the Irish Takeover Panel. If it does not meet this deadline, it would be precluded from mounting a bid for at least six months.
Reports of another bidder for the company could prompt builder Sean Dunne to increase his stake in the company.
Mr Dunne, who is paying €260 million for 4.8 acres of Jurys' land in Dublin's Ballsbrige, bought 3.37% of Jury's last week.
A spokesman for Mr Dunne said the builder bought the shares, not in contemplation of a possible bid for Jurys Doyle, but rather to protect his position at the forthcoming extraordinary general meeting to approve his proposed purchase of the Ballsbridge site.
Mr Dunne is expected to increase his stake in Jurys Doyle in the coming weeks and could build up a holding of close to 15%.
The Ballsbridge site is one of the most prized land assets in the State, and could be worth hundreds of millions of euro more if developed for residential use.
Precinct's €17.50 per share offer for Jurys is, its third indicative bid for Ireland's largest hotel group.
Its latest bid depends on getting mote than 50% of Jurys shareholders to back the deal.
The key to any bid being successful is the support of the Doyle and Beatties. While Precinct could take control of Jurys with just over 50%, it would still leave a large rump of discontented investors.
The Doyle family still have a large say in how the company is run since its merger with Jurys some years ago, with several of the late PV Doyle's family sitting on the board.
Precinct, who are being backed by British billionaire David and Simon Reuben, last year bought the Gresham Hotel chain.
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