Mr McKillen has confirmed that he intends to appeal the decision by Judge David Richards in London’s High Court, reports the Irish Independent.

Belfast-born Mr McKillen sued David and Frederick Barclay – the owners of the Telegraph media group – over their attempts to take over Coroin, a €1.2bn company which owns Claridge's, the Connaught and the Berkeley hotels.

Control

Mr McKillen owns 36.2 per cent of the company and the Barclays brothers 28.36 per cent. However, the brothers gained control of financier Derek Quinlan’s 35.5 per cent share after they secured the shareholding from NAMA last year.

Mr McKillen claimed that that Mr Quinlan’s shared should have been offered to him under a pre-emption agreement – a point that Judge Richards disagreed with.

A spokesman for Mr McKillen said he would be appealing the verdict to the Court of Appeal within 21 days.