February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
The Jefferson Smurfit Group will face a leveraged buyout in a few weeks, sources in Ireland have said, and as expected, the buyer will be Madison Dearborn of Chicago.
The company’s inevitable delisting from the Irish Stock Market is seen as a major blow, and many have predicted the ISM will cease to exits in a number of years.
Meanwhile, Cantrel and Cochrane, the drinks manufacturer, finally floated on the Dublin and London markets, giving the ISM a boost last week.
Allied Irish Banks rejected a merger with Bank of Ireland last week, leading to fears that the banks are now targets for non-Irish buyers.
Smurfit’s stubbornly low share price rose from euro 2.70 to euro 3.19 after the news of the likely takeover. It will cost Madison Dearborn euro 4 billion, the largest business takeover in Ireland’s history.
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