Grocery retail and wholesale group Musgrave is in the running to acquire coffee roaster and distributor Java Republic in a deal that could be worth about €30 million, according to the Sunday Times.
The newspaper said a deal would have obvious synergies for Musgrave, which operates the Centra, Mace, Supervalue and Donnybrook Fair retail franchises. Java Republic founder David McKernan put the company up for sale late last year and hired UK corporate finance company Cavendish to handle the process.
AIB sets aside €87m for Bankcentre move
AIB set aside a provision of €87 million last year to cover the cost of breaking leases and other expenses under a group property strategy where it is exiting its Bankcentre headquarters in Ballsbridge after four decades, the Sunday Times reports.
The main part of the strategy involves moving out of Bankcentre by the end of next year to make way for US social media group Facebook. Many of the workers are moving to AIB's new head offices on Molesworth Street in the centre of Dublin. A further 600 have already moved to Burlington Road and 1,800 have been relocated to Leopardstown in south Dublin.
Diaceutics eyes London listing
Belfast-based data analytics company Diaceutics is lining up a listing on London’s junior stock market, AIM, later this month, the Sunday Times reports.
The newspaper noted that Diaceutics, which was founded in 2005 by Peter Keeling, a nominee at the EY Entrepreneur of the Year awards last year, signalled its plans last Thursday and has hired London-based Cenkos Securities as its adviser on the listing. The company has offices in Dundalk, Belfast, the US and Singapore.
Toscafund lifts San Leon Energy stake to 66%
Toscafund Asset Management has increased its stake in Irish oil exploration company San Leon Energy, led by chief executive Oisín Fanning, to more than 66 per cent, having acquired additional stock in the market last week, the Sunday Business Post reports.
The firm, led by London fund manager Martin Hughes, who is known in financial circles as "The Rottweiler", previously had a 61 per cent interest in the company, whose main interest is a stake in a Nigerian oilfield called OML18.
Ronan warns Salesforce jobs at risk over building heights
The Sunday Business Post also reports that developer Johnny Ronan has warned Dublin City Council that many of the jobs Salesforce plans to create in Ireland could be at risk if he does not get approval to build two additional floors at the US tech firm's new headquarters in the Dublin Docklands.
Last month, Salesforce confirmed plans to increase its Irish workforce from 1,400 to 2,900 over the next five years. They are to be located in Salesforce Tower Dublin, which Mr Ronan’s Ronan Group Real Estate (RGRE) is currently constructing. However, RGRE lodged an application to increase the building from nine to 11 stories after the Government moved in December to relax height restrictions in building heights in Dublin city.
RTÉ faces review by State’s NewERA
The Sunday Independent reports that Minister for Communications Richard Burton is considering asking the National Treasury Management Agency's NewERA division to carry out a fresh review of financial efficiencies at RTÉ.
NewERA, which provides financial and strategic advice on State bodies for the Government, carried out a review of RTÉ in 2013 which ultimately led to the sale of 8.64 acres of land at its Donnybrook headquarters two years ago for €107.5 million.
