UK NEXT RIVERDEEP TARGET? - The Irish tycoon Barry O'Callaghan is considering a huge €3 billion bid for British publisher Harcourt Education. Mr O'Callaghan is chief executive of Dublin-based Riverdeep.
Harcourt, which has been suffering from falling revenues, is owned by Reed. It will be the second significant recent deal for the 36-year-old in recent months.
Liam Boggan from Merrion Capital says Riverdeep's recent deal - a $5 billion reverse takeover of US textbook publisher Houghton Mifflin - was audacious. Reed announced yesterday that it was disposing of the Harcourt business.
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SPANISH PROPERTY INVESTORS WARNED ON TAX - Irish people like the sun and they like property. So our love affair with foreign property is continuing. This week Property Expo 2007 takes place in Dublin's RDS. But a new problem is cropping up for people with property in Spain - the question of inheritance.
Catherine O'Sullivan of Overseas Property Law said the Spanish tax system, unlike the Irish, did not allow exempt transfers of property. If one spouse dies in Ireland, the other inherits any assets tax free. But in Spain there is no such exemption, and tax rates can vary from 7.5% to 34%.
She described the Spanish tax structure as complicated, while it also takes account of the existing wealth of the person inheriting an asset.
Ms O'Sullivan also said Spanish authorities were now taking a closer interest in foreign property owners and making sure they received their tax take.
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NEWS IN BRIEF AND MARKETS - Oil this morning is at $57 a barrel. It has been slightly increasing in recent weeks as winter finally arrived in the US.
This morning the euro is worth $1.31 and 67p sterling.
Financier Niall McFadden is set to buy Prontaprint and a number of associated companies for €75m.
In a separate deal, Irish biscuit and jam maker Jacob Fruitfield is considering a deal to buy Burton for €200m . The british company makes Wagon Wheels and Jammie Dodgers.
