THE PHILIP Lynch-led Moonduster consortium is believed to be in talks with a number of banks here in a bid to secure some funding for its proposed offer for Irish Continental Group.
It is understood that the consortium - comprising Lynch's One51 investment group and the Cork-based Doyle shipping group - has had discussions with AIB, Bank of Ireland and HBOS.
Sources have suggested that Moonduster might also have held talks with Barclays Bank.
It is not clear how advanced the talks are - the global financial crisis has resulted in Irish banks shying away from funding many deals.
An offer of €20 a share would value ICG at about €500 million. Any bid by Moonduster is likely to have to be significantly higher than this level.
ICG's shares rose in Dublin yesterday by 3.3 per cent to €15.50.
One51 is not short of funding. A recent interim report from the group indicated that it had a facility to draw down up to €220 million in extra funding.
Moonduster declined to comment.
While Moonduster has held talks with banks it is understood that the consortium has yet to meet with the other large shareholders in the business: property developer Liam Carroll and ICG's managing director Eamonn Rothwell.
Mr Carroll owns 29.25 per cent of ICG while Mr Rothwell holds 16 per cent of the shares.
On October 23rd, ICG revealed that Moonduster had indicated that it intended to approach the other large stakeholders in the company in a bid to break the 18-month logjam over the ownership of the ferry company.
Moonduster asked for a period of six weeks to engage with the other parties.
ICG is expected to publish its interim management statement on Monday or Tuesday of next week. The company is expected to indicate that it has achieved a strong trading performance in spite of the economic downturn.
Separately, the Irish Takeover Panel is expected to take about another fortnight before making a decision on the concert party allegations made against Moonduster and Arkaga, a UK-based investment fund that bought more than 5 per cent of ICG last year.
Arkaga is seeking compensation from Moonduster for losses it incurred in selling the shares earlier this year. Moonduster, which owns 25 per cent of the ferry group, has denied that it was involved with Arkaga in buying ICG shares.
