Young gun investor eyes property giant
A YOUNG Kilkenny businessman who inherited a fortune several years ago has launched a multi-million euro bid to take over one of Ireland's largest private building companies.
Stuart Pearson, 24, is in talks with the appointed administrators of embattled property developer, Taggart Holdings, which went into receivership, owing about f150 million, early last week.
Speaking exclusively to the Kilkenny People, Mr Pearson confirmed that his company, Pearson Property, is poised to swallow Belfast-based Taggart in a deal worth between f350 million and f450 million.
"We've laid an offer on the table and we expect that offer to be accepted," Mr Pearson said, following meetings with Price-Water-houseCoopers, which is managing the Taggart affair.
Mr Pearson said his company had been in talks with Taggart Holdings for several months, but the deal had only just come to light because of all the publicity surrounding the demise of Taggart in recent weeks.
"This has been ongoing for about three months and we hope to have come to a conclusion by the end of this month or early Decem-ber," he said.
Four subsidiary companies of Taggart Holdings have been assigned to the administrator in the Rep-ublic of Ireland and North-ern Ireland while others currently remain viable, but Mr Pearson has his sights set on the entire company.
"We're hoping to launch a takeover of Taggart Holdings, but we'd prefer to take the whole company rather than just parts of it," he said.
Despite debts in the region of f150 million, Mr Pearson said he sees Taggart Holdings as a good investment, with great potential and the ability to make a big profit over time.
"The amount of land they have tied up in the company is amazing, but it's overvalued, like everything is at the moment," he said.
Mr Pearson inherited the money to kick-start his growing property empire from relatives in about 2003. The money was made in land and property and he invested it in commercial property developments throughout Ireland and the UK.
The money was managed by a board of trustees until Mr Pearson, who has recently qualified as an accountant from college in Portlaoise, took control of the company, which he established at the end of 2004, earlier this year.
He receives advice on his business strategies from a Swiss group called De Vere, which specialises in property takeovers, as well as Dublin and London-based lawyers. In addition to his property business, Mr Pearson also runs a newsagents in Upper Main Street, Graignamanagh.
Originally from Carlow, Mr Pearson, who is married with two children, was living there until earlier this year, but has recently moved to Co. Kilkenny.
Taggart Holdings was started by Derry-born brothers, John and Michael Taggart and was placed into administration after req-uests from Ulster Bank and the Bank of Ireland, which thought the company would be unable to pull itself out of its financial slump.
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