KPMG EYEING BURLINGTON SITE? - The Irish Times reports that accounting firm KPMG has made tentative expressions of interest in acquiring a large amount of office space in any new development on the site of the Burlington Hotel in central Dublin.
With tenders due next Wednesday, the paper says KPMG is understood to have indicted a willingness to engage with certain possible acquirers to pre-let some 27,870 square metres of office space on the hotel site.
Such an arrangement would be similar to a deal some years ago in which accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) pre-let 18,580 square metres of office space in the Treasury Holdings complex on CIÉ lands at Spencer Dock.
KPMG declined to comment on its interest in the Burlington site, but the Irish Times says the firm is seeking a single high-quality office location in the city centre for its Irish headquarters.
***
KILLINEY WON'T JOIN GOLF DEAL CLUB - The Irish Independent says reports that Killiney golf club members are to get €500,000 as part of a sell-off deal hit the rocks last night.
The paper says the nine-hole course in one of Dublin's most exclusive suburbs, was the centre of speculation yesterday with rumours that a €300m offer had been accepted.
But the Indo says members were disgusted at reports which suggested the members were set for a €500,000 individual bonanza. That is not feasible due to restrictive tax liability which would mean the loss of most of the money if any club made an attempt to distribute cash among its members.
The paper points out that a large portion of the land has a base of granite which would need to be blasted to provide house foundations.
***
KURDS WANT TO BE OIL 'HUB' - The Times says a scramble for Kurdish oil licences is expected this summer after Ashti Hawrami, the oil minister for Iraq's Kurdish region, said yesterday that he wants to achieve a production goal of one million barrels a day by 2012.
The paper says the Kurdish move signals that Iraq is poised to open its doors to foreign oil investment.
In London yesterday, Dr Hawrami said that the Kurdish region aimed to be the 'hub' for Iraq's future oil industry and would look to sign up to ten exploration contracts by the end of the year.
***
VIRGIN LOOKS AT BMI AFTER US DEAL - The Daily Telegraph reports on comments from Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic, which has said is interested in acquiring rival airline BMI. Analysts have predicted a flurry of mergers in the wake of the ground-breaking 'open skies' deal.
The paper quotes Paul Charles, Virgin Atlantic spokesman, as saying: 'We have always said we are interested in BMI and we will continue to look at it.' The pair had abortive merger talks in 2003.
The Telegraph says BMI, which is majority owned by chairman Sir Michael Bishop, has emerged as the big winner from yesterday's agreement between the EU and the US because it owns almost 13% of the take-off and landing slots at Heathrow - second only to British Airways with 41%.
