Dunloe wins Ewart with chairman's aid

THE CHAIRMAN of Ewart, the property company at the centre of a three-way bidding war, yesterday split with the rest of his board and accepted the 81p a share offer from Dunloe House for his 16 per cent stake in the company.

Brian O'Connor said his acceptance of the offer would provide certainty to shareholders as, together with Dunloe's shares and acceptances, it would give Dunloe a majority of the shares in Ewart.

Dunloe already has control of, or has received acceptances for, about 35 per cent of Ewart's shares, including the 26 per cent stake held by Dunloe chairman Noel Smyth.

An added 16 per cent would tip Dunloe over the 50 per cent level it needed to gain control.

The acrimonious battle for control of Ewart saw Dunloe and Moyne each put in two bids. The Ewart board yesterday recommended shareholders reject the Dunloe offer and accept the Moyne offer. Both bids value Ewart at about pounds 25.7m.