THREE BUSINESSMEN, a tax consultant and a banker have brought legal proceedings to compel developer Bernard McNamara to pay them more than €7.5 million for their shareholdings in a property company in which all six men were involved.
Those proceedings were listed before Mr Justice Peter Kelly in the Commercial Court yesterday but the application to transfer them into that court's list was adjourned on consent for mention only on Friday.
The first set of proceedings relates to Novorstan Ltd, with offices at Clanwilliam Court, Dublin. The shareholders in Novorstan came together in 2004 to acquire properties within a site adjacent to Grafton Street, Dublin, in order to carry out a major commercial development on the site.
The shareholders were Mr McNamara, Ailesbury Road, Dublin; Gary Smith, Hazelhatch, Newcastle, Co Dublin; Ivor Dougan, Booterstown, Co Dublin; Paschal Taggart, Fitzwilliam Square, Dublin; Terry Cooney, a tax consultant, Fitzwilliam Square, Dublin; and Shane Taggart, a banker, Brompton Road, London.
Mr McNamara is being sued by the other five arising from an option deed of September 2004 under which the plaintiffs claim they granted Mr McNamara the option to require them to sell shares in Novorstan and other specified companies for a price in accordance with the deed.
They claim the minimum amount due to them under the deed is €7.5 million and that Mr McNamara has no bona fide defence to their claim for that amount, but that he has failed to pay that sum.
They claim Mr McNamara had in September 2006 exercised his option requiring them to sell their shares.
They had expressed dissatisfaction with a valuation put on the properties and an independent valuation was later secured by agreement between the sides.
They claim they notified Mr McNamara in August 2008 of their intention to waive in full any entitlement to have the option price determined at more than €7.5 million and that they were accepting €7.5 million as the option price for the purpose of the option deed.
They also claim Mr McNamara is required to pay €109,000 for the independent valuation.
In late August, Mr McNamara's solicitors had replied that the plaintiffs could not unilaterally vary the procedures set down in the option deeds.
The plaintiffs' solicitors responded that if the shares were not purchased by September 26th last, proceedings would be served on Mr McNamara.
It is claimed some €3.17 million is due to Mr Smith with the same amount due to Mr Dougan.
Paschal Taggart is claiming to be owed €385,000, while Terry Cooney and Shane Taggart are each claiming to be owed €384,750.
