McInerney shareholder granted second EGM

REBEL shareholder David Nabarro has won his appeal for a second extraordinary general meeting to be held to allow shareholders vote on the future of McInerney Holdings.

Earlier this month, the current board of the Dublin-headquartered house-building group informed shareholders of its intention to wind down the company through a voluntary liquidation process, saying that it had “no realistic alternative” as the business no longer has any “meaningful assets of worth”.

The debt-ridden property company has outstanding loans of around €113 million to a three-bank consortium of Bank of Ireland, Anglo Irish Bank and KBC Bank.

Shareholders are scheduled to meet on July 29 to vote on the board’s proposals. However, McInerney has granted Mr Nabarro — a London-based corporate financier who acquired a 21.5% stake in the firm in June — a second egm for August 17. That will give shareholders a chance to vote on his proposals; which include creating a new board (featuring himself and colleagues Kevin Lynch and John Garratt) and ultimately moving the company forward with a new business plan, while raising sufficient funds to complete the company’s existing stock of building sites.

In a letter to shareholders, Mr Nabarro said that a vote for the current board’s plan would be akin to “turkey’s voting for Christmas”.

“This is a desperate attempt by the board to prevent a proper examination of the way McInerney and its subsidiaries have been mis-managed over the last five years and to avoid any potential personal liabilities to which they might be exposed,” the letter stated.

Mr Nabarro — who is confident that McInerney’s proposal will be rejected at the end of this month — said that he is also keen, if appointed to the McInerney board, to investigate the borrowing relationship between the firm and Anglo Irish Bank; pointing out McInerney chairman Ned Sullivan’s previous links with that institution.

“Since the McInerney board have, by their own admission, “exhausted all possible efforts and options to rescue the group”, while I and my colleagues are seeking ways to salvage some value for all stakeholders, shareholders have absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain by rejecting this cynical ploy to seek to avoid being held accountable for past failures,” the letter added.