Louis Walsh in line for €550,000 windfall

Entrepreneur who managed Boyzone and Westlife voluntarily liquidated his company

Louis Walsh was a judge on The X Factor television show but due to falling ratings, the long-running show did not air in 2020. File photograph: Dara Mac Donaill
Louis Walsh was a judge on The X Factor television show but due to falling ratings, the long-running show did not air in 2020. File photograph: Dara Mac Donaill

Pop entrepreneur Louis Walsh is in line for a pretax windfall of about €550,000 after moving to wind up his management company.

According to new documents lodged by Walsh’s Brill Management Ltd with the Companies Office, Walsh has voluntarily liquidated his company.

A declaration of solvency shows that at the date of the voluntary winding up on November 24th, the company had assets of €553,695.

Padraic Bermingham has been formally appointed as liquidator to the company.

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One of Mr Bermingham’s main tasks will be to distribute the assets of the company to sole shareholder, Mr Walsh (67), after the costs of the liquidation are met.

Walsh has overseen the careers of two of the country’s most successful bands, Westlife and Boyzone.

The Co Mayo native set up Brill Management Ltd in 1999 – the same year the Walsh-managed Westlife released their debut album.

Under Walsh’s guidance, Westlife sold more than 55 million records around the world.

Comeback tour

On their comeback tour last year, Westlife clocked up estimated box office ticket sales of $29.9 million.

Figures from trade industry journal Pollstar show that the band’s two sell-out gigs alone at Croke Park in Dublin in July 2019 generated $11.65 million at the box office.

Across the globe last year, Westlife played to 381,984 music fans.

This year, the pandemic halted Westlife’s 2020 tour plans with dates rescheduled to next year.

Along with his band management duties, Walsh maintained his high profile over the years as a judge on The X Factor television show.

Due to falling ratings, the show did not air in 2020 after an unbroken run of 16 years.

Reflecting earlier this year on his time with the show, Walsh said: “The money was great and we had good fun. I have had a good run and I have no regrets, but thank God for Westlife.”

Gordon Deegan

Gordon Deegan

Gordon Deegan is a contributor to The Irish Times