BOYLESPORTS SEEKING TAKEOVER TARGETS AMID UK EXPANSION PLANS - Boylesports founder John Boyle says he is eyeing expansion into the UK betting market, but will not do it in a piecemeal fashion.
The businessman, who founded the company in 1982, said he will step back to chairman of the company if he can find a chief executive to take over the management of Boylesports. In an interview with the Irish Independent, John Boyle said his 198 strong chain of betting shops is close to the limits of its expansion within Ireland. Britain is the logical next step, he said. Boylesports considered a €525m bid for the UK's Tote in 2008, but after the financial crisis deepened the company pulled back from overseas expansion plans. The attraction of the then UK state -owned Tote was its 540 strong chain of betting shops. The company is again eyeing expansion through a major takeover, but has yet to identify a suitable target, John Boyle revealed. "A big push into the UK would be one of the next steps for the business," Mr Boyle said. "And if it happens it will be done in scale. Now that we are debt free we would have backing from the banks," he said.
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SISK FAMILY MEMBERS ROUTED MONEY THROUGH LUXEMBOURG - Eight members of the Sisk family routed money through Luxembourg in 2010 as they were preparing to invest an additional €14.5 million in their Dublin-based business. A letter from PwC in Luxembourg to the tax authorities there, which has been seen by The Irish Times, outlines the local tax consequences of the transactions. The structure involved eight members of the family giving interest-free loans totalling €14.4 million to a new Luxembourg company, Trefoil Luxembourg, as well as investing €100,000 in shares or equity. The money was then used to fund a new Sisk company back in Ireland, which in turn put money into Sisk group companies, with the circular routing of the money creating tax savings in Ireland. Trefoil Luxembourg has its registered address at 5 Rue Guillaume Kroll in Luxembourg, the address of a corporate administration services company called Alter Domus. This is the same address as Luxembourg companies used by the Irish food group, Glanbia. Company filings show it has no staff.
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CORRIB GAS PLAN TO COST €3.6 BILLION - The costs of the Corrib gas project are set to top €3.6 billion in 2015 when gas is finally expected to flow from the field. The Corrib partners have spent an additional €340m on various aspects of the project this year and next year anticipate that a further €250m will be spent. This follows an outlay of €330m on the project in 2013, bringing the total projected spend over the three-year period to €920m, writes the Irish Examiner. This will result in the project’s costs for the entire project topping €3.6 billion - more than four times the original estimate of €800m. Gas was expected to flow from the field in 2003, resulting in the project being 12 years behind the original schedule. However, a spokesman for Shell Ireland said yesterday the development made good progress this year. This included the completion of a subterranean tunnel and the spokesman said that the “piping and umbilical installation inside the Corrib tunnel is complete. After the pipeline has been hydrotested, the tunnel itself will be filled with grout. “Offshore, our 2014 works campaign was successfully completed - with all wells now tested and ready to commence production next year.”
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REPUBLICANS TO PRESSURE OBAMA ON PRO-BUSINESS REFORMS - The newly elected Republican Congress will press US President Barack Obama to enact a sweeping pro-business agenda which cuts taxes, strips the energy sector of regulation and supports new trade deals, writes the Financial Times. The Republicans overwhelmed the Democrats in election victories across the country in Congress and in governor’s races on Tuesday night as they regained control of Capitol Hill and the legislative agenda for the first time since 2006 when George W Bush was in the White House. In a repudiation of Mr Obama at the start of his final two years in office, the Republicans are set to gain nine seats in the 100-member Senate, giving the incoming majority leader, Mitch McConnell, a reasonable 54-46 cushion in the chamber, although legislation usually needs 60 votes. The party is also on track to increase its majority in the House of Representatives to the largest since 1928, after a night which gave the party a sharp psychological boost after sweeping defeats in the last two presidential elections. “There is no doubt that Republicans had a good night,” Mr Obama told reporters, while insisting that voters had sent a broader message for several elections that they wanted more bipartisan co-operation in Washington. “The American people overwhelmingly believe that this town doesn’t work well and that it is not attentive to their needs. And as President, they, rightly, hold me accountable to do more to make it work properly,” he said.
