Today's other stories in brief
Depfa seeks approval for €5.7bn merger
Dublin-based Depfa Bank plc is to ask shareholders to approve a scheme of arrangement for a €5.7 billion merger with a German credit institution, the High Court was told yesterday.
Mr Justice Peter Kelly admitted the proceedings by the bank, which provides financial services to public sector entities worldwide, into the list of the Commercial Court, the commercial division of the High Court.
The proceedings have been initiated because the proposed €5.696 billion merger of the businesses of Depfa and Hypo Real Estate Holding plc (HRE), a commercial real estate financier with headquarters at Munich, Germany, is subject to the approval of the High Court.
After admitting the proceedings yesterday on the application of Denis McDonald SC, for Depfa, the judge made directions for the convening, chairing and advertising of a meeting of shareholders on September 14th at the Four Seasons Hotel in Ballsbridge, Dublin, to approve the scheme of arrangement.
Under the proposed scheme, shareholders will receive €6.80 in cash and 0.189 of a new HRE share for every share in the company held by them.
33,000 millionaires in Ireland
The number of millionaires in the Republic has grown by 3,000 to 33,000 over the past year, according to a study by Bank of Ireland Private Banking.
The bank, which excludes an individual's home from its millionaire calculations, estimates that there are about 330 people worth more than €30 million in the State. The study also finds that the Republic's net wealth grew by 19 per cent to €805 billion in 2006 - one of the fastest growth rates in a survey of the eight leading OECD nations.
Irish spent €5bn on foreign property
Almost €3 billion of Irish money was spent on foreign property in the second quarter of the year, according to Jones Lang LaSalle. The property advisers say this brings the total spent on overseas properties in the year to date to €5 billion.
Vislink acquires US tech group
Vislink, the Dublin and London-listed satellite TV and communications equipment developer, has bought US group Western Technical Services (WTS), for $5.5 million (€4 million).
WTS specialises in the design and installation of video and data microwave communications, electronic news gathering and airborne law enforcement.
Connemara gets London listing
Connemara Mining, an Irish zinc mining and exploration group, is to list on London's AIM today, raising £1 million (€1.4 million) for further development.
Connemara, which is chaired by John Teeling, has 22 licences to search for zinc in Ireland and one for gold. It is seeking to take advantage of the short supply of zinc around the world.
Sharp rise in Pearson profits
Book and newspaper publisher Pearson reported a sharp rise in first-half profits yesterday and raised its full-year sales forecast for growth of 5-7 per cent.
The company, which also publishes the Financial Times, said its first-half adjusted operating profit rose 47 per cent to £91 million (€134 million) from £62 million a year ago. - (Reuters)
C&C continues shares buyback
C&C has continued its share buyback programme, spending €4.7 million on 600,000 of its own units.
Ryanair has also taken advantage of the recent declines in Irish share prices to scoop up a further 3.3 million of its own shares at a cost of at least €15.5 million.
