Billionaire brothers bankrolling Quinlan, court hears

Two billionaire brothers have been keeping afloat the developer Derek Quinlan, once one of Ireland’s richest men, a British court heard yesterday.

Mr Quinlan was a shareholder of the hotel group at the heart of a row between Daily Telegraph owners David and Frederick Barclay and Belfast-based developer Patrick McKillen. The latter three men were investors in Coroin, which owns three of London’s best known hotels (Claridge’s, the Connaught and the Berkeley), the High Court in London was told.

Mr McKillen has sued the Barclays and their companies over “an intense battle for control of Claridge’s and associated hotels,” Mr McKillen’s lawter Philip Marshall said in opening arguments. He claimed the brothers behaved dishonourably and unlawfully in trying to acquire Maybourne Hotels, which owns the Berkeley and Connaught hotels.