Investment costs contributed to the company operating Conor McGregor’s new pub venture, the Black Forge Inn, to record losses of €441,649 last year.
The MMA fighter acquired the Crumlin pub last year and McGregor’s Jemi Ventures Ltd recently secured planning permission from Dublin City Council for a large extension.
The new accounts filed by Jemi Ventures Ltd put a book value of €3.64 million on the pub building and tangible assets at the end of last year. The loss for last year includes a non-cash depreciation charge of €317,262.
Buildings owned by the company had a book value of €2 million while fixtures and fittings were valued at €1.63 million.
The pub did not open until July of this year after a seven-figure make-over of the premises.
At a sitting of Dublin District Court last December, Jemi Ventures secured the transfer of the licence to allow it to open the pub.
The company’s cash funds at the end of last December totalled €665,108. The progression of the venture has been financed by a loan of €3.95 million.
'Mega site'
A note attached to the accounts states that the directors have considered the company’s business prospects and all relevant aspects of the company’s financial position, including its ability to generate positive cash flow and/or obtaining additional funding that may be required.
The recent grant of permission comprises a part-one part-two storey extension to the back of the pub. The spend forms just part of McGregor’s outlay on property in the Dublin area in recent times.
Last month, McGregor confirmed plans to build “multiple amenities” on a “mega site” along Dublin’s Grand Canal.
McGregor confirmed the new public space will include housing and a supermarket and will be a “stones throw” from the National Children’s Hospital in Crumlin.
This followed a report that the Crumlin native has paid up to €19 million in nearly completing the assembly of the site on the Davitt Road, near the Grand Canal.
Earlier this year, McGregor topped the Forbes list of being named the highest paid athlete in the world for 2020/21. Forbes estimated that in the 12 months to the end of May 2021, McGregor earned $180 million (€153 million). The figure includes $158 million from endorsements and the sale of a majority stake in his whiskey brand.
The planning documentation lodged with the council stated the Black Forge Inn on Drimnagh Road, Crumlin has been used as a pub for around 20 years “and with recent renovations, it continues to be a successful business”.
The documents add the expanded pub will generate jobs and attract visitors to Crumlin.
