Vision Capital requests that Ires Reit shareholders fund costs of its activism campaign

The rebel shareholder is seeking costs of up to €425,000, Ires reported today.

The Canadian fund is also looking to put forward three nominees for appointment to Ires’ board. Ires said all three were previously considered and rejected by shareholders at the extraordinary general meeting in February.

Ires added that no agreement between the companies has been reached since this meeting. It has offered two seats on the company’s board to Vision Capital subject to both parties agreeing to the terms of a co-operation agreement.

However, these discussions have not been successful.

The company said that it believes there is no justification for Ires to pay for Vision’s “voluntarily incurred expenses,” including those linked to the recent EGM.

In a statement, Ires said using shareholders’ funds to pay a significant part of these activism costs would be “highly unusual and inconsistent with good governance practice.”

The company is currently undergoing a strategic review and will consider a “full range of strategic options” to maximise value for shareholders.

These include consolidation, mergers, a review of the company as a listed Reit, the sale of the entire issued capital of the company and the sale of assets and returning value to shareholders.

Ires has around 3,700 units in Dublin and Cork which had a combined value of €1.43bn in June last year.

The units currently have 99pc occupancy.