Billionaire John Magnier tells court that some decisions are 'out of my pay grade'

High Court reporters

Billionaire John Magnier has told the High Court that a cross-examining barrister was "trying to portray me as a bad guy" in a case where he claims he had agreed a deal to buy land in Co Tipperary that eventually failed when the owners later preferred a higher bidder.

Mr Magnier on Wednesday also told the High Court that he employed experts in legal and financial fields because some advisory decisions were "out of my pay grade".

The founder of the world-famous Coolmore Stud also said that when he asked about what happened with his €15 million bid that he claims he had shaken hands on in 2023 but for which he was later out-bid, he was told by the estate agent involved: "One word, John: greed."

Lawyers acting for Mr Magnier have claimed before the High Court that a US-based construction magnate, Maurice Regan, the preferred buyer, engaged in a "full-frontal assault" on Mr Magnier's claimed deal to buy 751 acres of land in Tipperary for €15 million.

Mr Magnier's proceedings claim that Barne Estate, having reneged on the alleged deal, preferred to sell the land at the higher price of €22.25 million to Mr Regan, the founder of the New York building firm JT Magen.

Mr Magnier claims that Mr Regan’s involvement and pursuit of the land breached an exclusivity agreement made on the purported deal between representatives of the estate and Mr Magnier.

Mr Magnier – along with his adult children, John Paul Magnier and Kate Wachman - wants to enforce the alleged deal.

They say the deal was struck at an August 22nd, 2023, kitchen meeting at Mr Magnier’s Coolmore home. They also claim an exclusivity agreement that was in effect from August 31st to September 30th stipulated that the estate would not permit its representatives to solicit or encourage any expression of interest, inquiry or offer on the property from anyone other than Mr Magnier.

Barne Estate has been held for the benefit of Richard Thomson-Moore and others by a Jersey trust.

The Magniers have sued the Barne Estate, Mr Thomson-Moore and three companies of IQEQ (Jersey) Ltd group, seeking to enforce the purported deal which they say had been "unequivocally" agreed.

The Barne defendants say there was never any such agreement and subsequently they preferred to sell the estate to Mr Regan.

Mr Regan is not a party to the case.

At the High Court, Mr Magnier confirmed his billionaire-class status in cross examination when asked by Martin Hayden SC, for the defence, by saying "I'd hope so – I've been fortunate".

Mr Magnier said he was aware of a medical condition that was in need of treatment in the Thomson-Moore family and that they were selling the land in order to move to Australia to get better medical treatment for a family member.

Mr Magnier said he did not think the Thomson-Moore family were "greedy", that he dealt with them in a "fair and honourable way" and that the comment about alleged "greed" was something that was spoken to him by the estate agent.

He told the court that he believed the Thomson-Moores could have been "misled" by Mr Regan in the deal, who Mr Magnier alleged, wanted to keep land prices in Tipperary down.

Mr Magnier also told Mr Hayden that he did not think that the Thomson-Moores were behaving in a "greedy" manner when preferring Mr Regan's offering which was €7.25M in excess of his own.

Mr Magnier told Mr Hayden that he left school at 15 with "not a very good education" and that he employed "experts" in legal and finance matters to aid his business decisions because it was "above my pay grade".

The billionaire was asked by Mr Heydon how much land he personally owned in Tipperary and answered said "very little" but that reports of him owning 20K acres were "totally false".

Mr Magnier said that he has five children and 15 grandchildren, that his operation employs 1,300 people and that he would not do deals on distressed properties or people under duress to sell.

When Mr Hayden asked about Mr Magnier's wealth, the billionaire said that money does not mean much to him but that it was a way to "keep the score" on "good and bad days" in business.

Mr Paul Gallagher SC, for Mr Magnier, has said Mr Regan was "the man who started all this". Counsel said the US-based businessman had a "grandiose and mistaken" belief that the sale should not go ahead to Mr Magnier and set out to "destroy" the agreement to purchase Barne.

The trial continues before Mr Justice Max Barrett.