Sean Dunne submits Berkeley Court bid

Sean Dunne is among at least seven parties to have submitted bids for the site of Jurys Doyle's Berkeley Court Hotel at Ballsbridge in Dublin.

Tenders for the site closed yesterday at midday and a spokeswoman for Jurys said last night that the firm was "very happy with the number of tenders".

She said that the site had attracted a "strong response". Property developer Paddy Kelly was also among the bidders for the property.

Mr Kelly could be expected to build a consortium around the deal if his tender was accepted.

Other developers mentioned by market sources in connection with bids include Frank Gormley of Howard Holdings and Ray Grehan of Glenkerrin Homes.

Property experts value the site at around €100 million.

Mr Kelly, Mr Gormley, Mr Grehan and Mr Dunne all tendered for the adjoining Jurys Ballsbridge hotel site in July.

That tender process was won by Mr Dunne, who last month closed his €260 million purchase of the 4.84-acre property.

This makes Mr Dunne, a 28 per cent shareholder in Jurys, the most obvious buyer for the Berkeley Court site. He has also made it clear that he wants to buy the nearby veterinary college site that has been put on the market by the Office of Public Works.

The Jurys management team will now consider the tenders for the Berkeley Court and bring a recommendation to the company's board later this week.

The board, which is dominated by the Doyle family, is under no obligation to sell to the highest bidder and could choose a preferred buyer for other reasons.

Investment group Quinlan Private, which is not thought to have bid for the Berkeley Court site, has meanwhile confirmed to the Irish Stock Exchange that it does not intend to make a bid for Jurys Doyle.

The group had been linked with a possible offer over the summer, before the Doyle family had launched its own takeover move.