ECB TO BUY ITALIAN AND SPANISH BONDS TO EASE LATEST CRISIS - The European Central Bank has said it will buy Italian and Spanish bonds as part of its efforts to calm the latest euro zone debt crisis. The head of fixed income research at Kleinwort Benson in London, Phyllis Reed, says the move by the ECB has probably bought the euro zone a bit of breathing space and welcomes the fact that yields on Spanish and Italian government debt are easing. However, she says the bond buying programme is only a temporary measure and one which, she believes, will not be enough to bring the crisis to a close.
The analyst says the capacity of the funding mechanism is already running at full tilt and there are not enough funds to bail out Spain and Italy - which is a very large economy. She asks whether the two countries are actually too big to save. Ms Reed says she believes the only thing the euro zone authorities can do to is introduce full fiscal union, which would include raising taxes centrally. But she adds that the euro zone is very far from that sort of a situation at the moment.
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DATA ELECTRONICS SOLD TO TELECITY - A number of investors behind the data centre company Data Electronics will see big gains after the news that the company has been sold to UK group Telecity. Data Electronics has two data centres where their big corporate customers can house their telecoms, internet and IT infrastructure. The company was founded in 1975 in an earlier incarnation by former Aer Lingus CEO Liam Kehoe.
Data Electronics' CEO Maurice Mortell says the company as been performing very well in Irish market while Telecity is Europe's leading provider in the same space. He says the deal will bring Data Electronics a bigger footprint in Europe while it will also gain access to more expertise and technology. He says a number of groups will gain from the €100m price achieved for the company, including the founding members, a private investment group and members of the company's current management team.
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MORNING BRIEFS - The euro is worth $1.4370 US cents and 87.38 pence sterling.
