John Magnier tells court defence is trying to portray him as the 'bad guy' in Tipperary land dispute

Irish Examiner

28-05-2025

Bloodstock billionaire John Magnier has told the High Court 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 he employed experts in legal and financial fields because some advisory decisions were "out of my pay grade".
Mr Magnier has told the High Court when he enquired about what happened with his €15m bid 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, founder of the world-famous Coolmore Stud, 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 €15m.
Mr Magnier's proceedings claim Barne Estate, having reneged on the alleged deal, preferred to sell the land at the higher price of €22.25m to Mr Regan, the founder of the New York building firm JT Magen.
Mr Magnier claims 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 22, 2023, kitchen meeting at Mr Magnier's Coolmore home. They also claim an exclusivity agreement that was in effect from August 31 to September 30 stipulated 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 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 the comment about alleged "greed" was something that was spoken to him by the estate agent.
He told the court 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 he did not think 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 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 Heyden how much land he personally owned in Tipperary and he answered "very little" but reports of him owning 20,000 acres were "totally false".
Mr Magnier said he had five children and 15 grandchildren, that his operation employs 1,300 people, and 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 money did not mean much to him but 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.