Mooney off-loads stake in Botanic
Jas Mooney, the driving force behind Northern Ireland's largest pubs group Botanic Inns, has sold his 100 per cent shareholding for an undisclosed sum estimated to be upward of £20m.
In seven years, Mooney drove the growth of Botanic from two Belfast pubs to 11 pubs, one hotel and two off-licences employing a total of 600 staff. Earlier in 2004 the FT listed his company as one of the best to work for in the UK and the 40 year-old entrepreneur appears at 58 in The Publican's own Rich List (to be published next week).
As one of the new investors, former commercial director Stephen Magorrian takes Mooney's old position as managing director of the Belfast-based group. He described the deal as an amicable buy-in, saying: "This is something we worked on for quite a long time and was part of Jas's strategy."
However, speaking from a golf course in Portugal, Mooney said: "It all happened rather quickly, they came to me with a deal and I said OK."
He said he would use his pay-out to "pursue other projects" but refused to be drawn on details. The smart money is on another pub venture to rival Botanic on his native turf.
