February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Eircom’s fate remains confused this week after Denis O’Brien’s eIsland group presented a new bid for the former state-owned telecom consortium, several weeks after it seemed that Tony O’Reilly’s Valentia Telecommunications had secured a deal.
If Valentia does not match eIsland within 14 days of the formal offer being made, then Eircom’s largest shareholder will be free to accept the deal.
Comsource, the Dutch-Swedish joint venture that owns 35 percent of Eircom, has given a commitment to accept a lower bid from Valentia. It can break its commitment if a higher offer, which Valentia fails to match, is made.
O’Brien has also emerged as the major shareholder in Doncaster Rovers Football Club Ltd. The company is negotiating a deal that would see a major retail group building on the club’s grounds.
More than 90 percent of the Doncaster company’s shares were bought for more than £3.5 million sterling (euro 5.7 million) in August 1998 by an Isle of Man company called Westferry.
Castlebar complaints
Sign up to The Irish Echo Newsletter
Castlebar is almost ready to unveil its new market square development — but local business people and merchants are not happy.
The town center will have new paving, flower boxes and a monument, and 12 parking spaces.
The chairman of the Town Traders’ Association, pharmacist John Durkin, says that the new square, which has taken 15 years to design, is not what the locals want.
"In 1986 we began talking to the council about a proposed enhancement of the market square," he said. "Eventually, four years ago, ourselves, local residents, elected councilors and council officials agreed on a design. Work began on the market square about four months ago. It is now almost complete and it certainly is nothing like what we all agreed on.
"We met the council at a special meeting this week in the council offices. We’re not prepared to accept what has happened.
"The new square is at different levels, steps have been incorporated into the design, the new loading areas are too small and businesses are losing out because of the design."
The assistant county manager for Mayo, Alex Fleming, denies the traders’ claims.
"We would have no reason to make any substantial changes other than the alterations that we had to incorporate to meet health and safety rules," Fleming said.
An Independent councilor on the authority, Frank Durkin, said the present work should be bulldozed over and the wishes of the people living and using the market square implemented instead.
"I’d describe the new town square as an obstacle course, unsuitable for the elderly and people with disabilities. It’s all at different levels," he said.
Baltimore wins contract
Baltimore makes the news again: after posting a profit warning last week, turning down a merger offer and losing its CEO, the Internet security service has secured the contract to upgrade the Australian Defense communications network.
Baltimore was chosen to give the 90,000-strong defense force a secure online and electronic communications system.
All members of the force will have a digital certificate that has been generated using an accredited public key infrastructure (PKI). These digital certificates will enable Defense personnel to uniquely sign and encrypt their electronic correspondence, giving this e-correspondence the same assurance and legal status as a signed, paper based letter.
The contract is worth more than $1 million Australian and will take six months to put into operation.
New mortgage options
If you want to take advantage of online mortgage information in Ireland, now might be the time to do it. Latest data suggests that Dublin’s heady property boom seems to have finally peaked.
According to a Jones Lang LaSalle survey, property values rose only 0.8 percent in the second quarter of this year, the lowest increase since December 1993. A rise of 14.9 percent was recorded in the four quarters to June 2001. Rent growth has also slowed, especially in the retail sector.
A rival survey by Hamilton Osborne King confirmed the trend, although that survey suggested that if the technology sector recovered in the next 12 months, industrial office space may see further increases in value.
Hamilton Osborne King’s research chief said that "a return to more stable and sustainable growth in the medium term will provide more security and ensure continued positive performance."
Miners eye Duma
Ireland’s leading mining consortium, Celtic Resources Holdings Plc, is closely watching the passage of a bill through the Russian legislature, the Duma.
The bill would permit further expansion of the Nezhdaninskoye gold project in the Sakha Republic in the far east of Russia.
The bill still requires approval by the Russian upper chamber, before receiving President Vladimir Putin’s signature — that will award Celtic Resources a Production Sharing Agreement.
A PSA is a legal agreement between the Russian federal and provincial governments and the foreign investor that is intended to provide a specific and stable fiscal regime for the development of large natural resources projects.
Celtic’s chairman and managing director, Kevin Foo, said: "The granting of a PSA is a notable and extremely positive development for the project. It confirms the national priority of Nezhdaninskoye and allows us to negotiate favorable long-term fiscal issues and taxation rates. This is the first mining PSA with Western participation to be granted for some years."
The Nezhdaninskoye gold deposit is the third largest in Russia, with an estimated 15 million ounces beneath the surface.