Jurys Doyle Hotel Group plc (“Jurys Doyle” or the “Company”)
On 12 August, 2005 Mr. Sean Dunne and DTC Construction Services Limited (“Mr. Dunne”) purchased 2,121,668 Jurys Doyle shares representing approximately 3.36% of the issued share capital of the Company. Over the two days 23 and 24 August Mr. Dunne acquired a further 9,396,668 shares which increased his shareholding to approximately 18.23%. The shares acquired by Mr. Dunne on 24 August were acquired in three separate tranches of 6,494,381, 2,752,287 and 100,000 shares.
Rule 4(a) of the Irish Takeover Panel Act 1997, Substantial Acquisition Rules, 2001 (the “SARs”) prohibits any person, subject to certain exceptions set out in Rule 5, from making a substantial acquisition of securities. Subject to certain exceptions, the SARs restrict the rate at which a person may increase their holding of shares and rights over shares to an aggregate having between 15% and 30% of the voting rights of a company. A person cannot, subject to the aforementioned exceptions, acquire 10% or more of the total voting rights in a company in any seven day period if such purchases when aggregated with the shares already held by that person (or any person acting in concert with them) would result in that person holding 15% or more but less than 30% of the total voting rights of the company.
The Panel has ruled that the purchase by Mr. Dunne of 2,752,287 and 100,000 Jurys Doyle shares constituted a breach of Rule 4 of the SARs as such purchases did not fall within any of the exceptions in Rule 5. Consequently, the Panel has directed Mr. Dunne to dispose to parties unconnected with him such number of shares as would reduce his shareholding in the Company below 15%.
