Baileys' €25m the biggest Revenue deal in our history - The biggest salary earners in the country, the Bailey brothers, have made the largest tax settlement in the history of the state. The builders and developers, Mick and Tom Bailey, paid a whopping €25m to the Revenue Commissioners through their company Bovale Ltd. The Irish Independent has learned that the Revenue's crack Special Investigation Branch trawled back through the company's accounts to its incorporation 23 years ago. The Roscommon-born brothers, who founded Bovale Ltd in 1983, declined to comment when contacted last night. It is understood that the €25m settlement was negotiated directly with the Revenue and that Bovale Ltd decided not to petition the Appeals Commissioners. Mick Bailey (51) and his younger brother Tom (45) paid themselves an annual salary of €5.3m each last year, which is understood to make them the country's biggest wage earners. The company's assets are valued at €118m. Bovale is currently developing a 150,000-square foot shopping centre with Dunnes Stores as the anchor tenant and with a total of 285 apartments at the junction of the M2 and M50 in Charlestown. The Baileys are among the country's most successful builders and developers and have built more than 4,000 houses since they started Bovale in 1983.
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Private group sells 5% stake in C&C - BC Partners, the private-equity group, is thought to have raised €101m after selling down the rump of its stake in drinks and snacks group C&C, reports the Irish Times. The London-based firm is believed to have placed 15.5 million shares, or close to 5% of C&C, over the course of yesterday. Market sources said the placing had been managed by Merrion Stockbrokers rather than by C&C's house broker, Davy. It is normal for house brokers to handle such transactions. It is believed Merrion, which has produced a number of pieces of research on C&C, had carved out a substantial share of trade in the stock in advance of the placing. BC Partners acquired its stake in C&C in 1999 when it led a buyout of Allied Domecq's stake in the company. C&C floated two years ago, with BC reducing its holding in a number of placings since then. Yesterday's block of shares is thought to have been placed at €6.52, just below where C&C traded for most of the day. This price signals strong demand for the stock, with placings more usually completed at a more significant discount to trading levels.
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Watchdog slinks away from card fight - The competition watchdog has abandoned its attempt to force MasterCard to cut credit card fees charged to retailers, says the Telegraph. Last September, after a five-year inquiry, the Office of Fair Trading ruled that the charges were a 'tax on consumers' and must be cut. The fees were at least £100m too high, the OFT claimed, accusing MasterCard of using them to subsidise interest-free periods and other loyalty bonuses. Banks that clear credit card transactions for retailers pay the so-called interchange fees to the banks that issue MasterCards. The levy covers the cost of transferring funds when cards are used. The watchdog claimed the fees were unfair because retailers passed the charge to customers at the till. At the time, MasterCard was thought to have charged more than £400m on the 700m purchases worth £42.7 billion made in the UK in 2004. After the ruling, MasterCard appealed to the Competition Appeal Tribunal. It had already agreed to change the terms and conditions of its fees a year earlier.
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BBC poised to create 'Media City' in Salford - The city of Salford has beaten Manchester, its neighbour and old foe, to pole position in the race to house BBC Sport, Children's BBC and Radio Five Live when they are relocated north, reports the London Independent. The BBC indicated yesterday that the vast quayside space offered by Salford, Manchester's perennial poor relation, places it ahead. The announcement was greeted with delight and glee in Salford which, with the real prospect of Granada cashing in its prime central Manchester location and moving in alongside the BBC, may soon find itself home to the most important broadcasting hub outside London. The result caps a remarkable transformation for the so-called 'dirty old town', centred on the once derelict quays which are now home to the Imperial War Museum North and the Lowry centre. A 200-acre quayside site creates the possibility of a "media city" built around the BBC, including independent production companies whose investment in the site would reduce the BBC's own relocation costs.
