Quinn’s bid for Wentworth golf course below par

BUSINESSMAN Sean Quinn will have to raise his bid for the famous Wentworth golf course by €12 million if he wants to stay in the race.

It is believed the club is on the verge of accepting a €140 million bid from British retailing millionaire Richard Caring.

If Mr Quinn, the founder of the Quinn empire which spans everything from cement manufacturing to financial services, will have to bid 5% more than Caring to keep alive his hopes of securing the club.

Caring, who is worth some €300 million and owns the International Clothing Designs business, submitted his bid for the Surrey-based club some weeks ago and it has attracted the support of 60% shareholder, the property group Chelsfield.

The remaining shares are held by private institutions, the Government of Singapore and Eddie Shah, best known as the owner of the collapsed Today tabloid newspaper.

Another bidder is hotelier Surinda Arora. He has reportedly put in an offer of €133 million and holds some of the club’s debentures. He could yet swing the deal in his favour as debenture holders at Wentworth had an automatic 14-day option to match the best offer on the table.

Mr Quinn’s initial offer for the club was €135 million.

Sources have expressed surprise that Denis O’Brien has not launched an offer as he is already one of the largest owners of golf courses in Britain.

Three years ago he acquired European PGA Tour Courses plc, the owner of Woburn, which has hosted the British Ladies Open on several occasion.

Wentworth is well-known as the host club for the World Matchplay Championship and the Volvo PGA Championship. The exclusive club has three 18-hole courses and a nine-hole course as well as a range of leisure and conference facilities. The club uses land stretching across more than 700 acres.

Mr Quinn has emerged as one of Ireland’s richest an shrewdest businessmen and built up his Quinn Group into one of the largest firms in the State. His insurance firms Quinn Direct and Quinn Life are highly profitable, earning €69 million in the first half of the year.

He recently bought the plastics and radiator group Balro for €84 million and hold a 20% stake in stockbrokers NCB.

In addition to this he runs a number of hotels including Buswells beside the Dáil and spent €145 million on the Hilton and Ibis Karlin hotels in Prague.

According to some reports the Wentworth is actually worth around €95 million based on its profitability, but bidders are paying higher to get control of one of the most prized assets in golf.

Wentworth's origins date back more than 75 years to when Walter George Tarrant, the son of a Portsmouth politician, bought 200 acres of the Wentworth Estate.