Minority shareholder in landlord Ires seeks €425k from firm to cover failed board campaign

Ires Chairman Declan Moylan and chief executive Margaret Sweeney following the company's EGM in February where motions from Vision Capital were defeated. 

The minority stakeholder behind attempts to replace members of the Irish Residential Properties REIT (Ires) board is seeking reimbursement of €425,000 from the company’s shareholders to cover the cost of running its failed campaign.

At an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) in February, Vision Capital, which owns 5% of Ires, had sought a shareholder vote on replacing five board members with its own nominees as well as a resolution which could force a sale of Ires and its assets over the coming years.

While the Ires board successfully defeated the resolutions, it did so with around 60% of the vote on each which means there remains a significant contingent who are still interested in potentially liquidating the company.

According to Ires, Vision Capital is now seeking €425,000 from Ires shareholders for the cost of running the campaign behind these resolutions and is once again seeking to put forward three nominees for the board — all of which were rejected during February’s EGM.

Vision is seeking to add these proposals to the agenda of the company’s annual general meeting which is due to take place on May 2.

In a statement, Ires said that despite efforts by the board to find a “fair and reasonable” basis for settlement with Vision — which included the offer of two seats on the board — an agreement has not been reached.

“Vision has requested that Ires use shareholders’ funds to cover a significant part of Vision’s activism costs. The board does not believe that there is any justification for the company to pay Vision’s voluntarily incurred expenses, which include costs related to the EGM at which Vision’s proposals were rejected by the company’s shareholders,” the board said.

It added that it considers this request to be highly unusual and inconsistent with good governance practice.

Ires is currently undergoing a strategic review which is to explore all options available to maximise value for shareholders, and an update will be provided to the market ahead of the company’s AGM.

Ires is the largest private landlord in the country. It owns 3,734 apartments most of which are located in Dublin aside from a 50-unit block in Harty’s Quay in Cork.

The company recently announced that Eddie Byrne, a 20 year-veteran of the Irish property sector and most recently a joint managing partner at Quintain Developments Ireland, will take over as chief executive from Margaret Sweeney who is retiring.

Mr Byrne will take up the role as chief executive designate on April 8 and will take over from Ms Sweeney on May 1. He will also be made an executive director of the company’s board.