Taylor liquidator pursues proceeds of house sale - The liquidator of the Taylor and Associated Financial Services (TAFS) is to continue his court action to try to get access to proceeds from the convicted broker Tony Taylor's house sale, reports the Irish Times. However, the move is unlikely to benefit creditors who are owed almost £2 million. Taylor was sentenced to five years in jail earlier this week, when he pleaded guilty to five of 13 charges of fraud and other crimes in the Circuit Criminal Court. The remaining charges were dropped. The liquidator, Paddy McSwiney, confirmed that he would be pursuing the £365,000 that remains frozen in a bank account. The monies are proceeds of the sale of Taylor's Ballsbridge home four years ago, which he owned jointly with his wife Shirley.
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Power aims higher - Vince Power, the Tramore-born live music entrepreneur, intends to embark on rapid expansion now that his Mean Fiddler Group has raised £5 million sterling and secured a listing on the Alternative Investment Market in London. 'We are negotiating to acquire a suitable premises in Paris as a jazz cafe location, and that should be up and running by the middle of next year. We are still interested in opening in New York and Los Angeles at a later date. And we are interesting in buying two existing locations one live music, the other dance in London,' Mr Power told the Irish Independent. The £5million fundraising follows the failure last July of a potentially larger placing and not only allows Mean Fiddler to start its expansion plans, but provides a platform for further growth.
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Gateway warns of greater third quarter losses - Gateway has become the latest computer maker to warn that weaker demand following the recent terrorist attacks would force it to report a greater-than-anticipated third-quarter loss, says the Financial Times. The warning from Gateway, the fourth-largest US PC maker, came just hours after market leader Dell Computer reaffirmed its earnings forecast. 'An already tough operating environment got a lot tougher over the past several weeks,' said Ted Waitt, Gateway chairman and chief executive. 'While virtually every segment of our business was adversely affected in the days and weeks following the tragic events of September 11, we're starting to see business normalise again and we're hopeful that we've seen the worst of the impact from those events.' Gateway said that US unit sales increased sequentially in the quarter, but not at the rate the company had anticipated. The group's international operations, which are scheduled for closure, posted greater-than-anticipated quarterly losses.
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Hitouch launches webcasting venture - Irish company Hitouch has set up a joint venture called WebChannels, which will provide video and audio Webcasts, reports electricnews.net. Hitouch owns 80% of the shares of the joint venture called WebChannels Ireland. WebChannels UK, a daughter company of the Interactive1 Digital Media group, owns the remaining 20% of the shares. According to Hitouch, the joint venture is the next step in its strategic partnership with Interactive1, which provides the company with access to complementary technological capabilities in digital media research and development. Both companies are working together to develop new digital media technologies in the years ahead.
