Companies

Inside the room as Ires Reit board faced down bitter activist rebellion

Sparks flew as Canadian investors questioned the direction of the company and the future of Ireland’s largest landlord still hangs in the balance

Ires Reit chairman Declan Moylan and chief executive Margaret Sweeney after Friday’s highly charged EGM. Picture: David Cantwell

In a scene reminiscent of the 2015 film The Big Short, Jeffrey Olin stood at the head of Friday’s crucial shareholder meeting of Ires Reit and posed a question to Philip Burns.

“Mr Burns here has been on the board since 2016. That’s going on eight years and how many shares do you own Mr Burns?,” Olin, the chief executive of activist investor Vision Capital, asked.

Declan Moylan, chair of Ires Reit, tried to intervene, ...