FACEBOOK BUILDINGS JEWELS IN €263.8m DUBLIN OFFICE PORTFOLIO - In one of the highlights of the office investment market this year, property advisers CBRE and JLL are to offer for sale five Dublin office blocks including two exceptional buildings owned by Joe O’Reilly’s Chartered Land and rented by Facebook at 4 and 5 Grand Canal Square.
Nama are to oversee the sale of the Tara Collection which has a guide price of €263.8 million, writes the Irish Times. Apart from the Daniel Libeskind-designed buildings at Grand Canal Square, the other assets going on the international market are Alexandra House in the Sweepstakes development in Ballsbridge; 86-88 Lower Leeson Street and One Grand Parade overlooking the Grand Canal in Dublin 6. The collection will allow an investor to gain a significant foothold in Dublin’s prime office market. The assets are to be offered for sale in one lot or on an individual basis. They will be of interest to both Irish and overseas investment funds because of they stand to benefit from the limited supply of quality office accommodation available in the central business district and the strong recovery taking place in the Dublin office market generally.
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BOT AT AER LINGUS MULLS OVER WHAT TO DO WITH ITS €400m CASH POT - Aer Lingus will be examining how to best use almost €400m of cash on its balance sheet following the expected resolution of a long-running pension issue, according to chief financial officer Bernard Bot. Mr Bot was speaking as the airline said it will hold an extraordinary shareholder meeting on December 10 to vote on a €191m cash injection that Aer Lingus has agreed to contribute to help address a €750m deficit at the Irish Airlines Superannuation Scheme (IASS). The IASS serves around 15,000 past and present employees of Aer Lingus, the Dublin Airport Authority and Shannon Airport. Aer Lingus had €571.6m of net cash on its balance sheet at the end of September, after reporting a strong third-quarter financial performance, boosted by summer long-haul business. Assuming €191m is stripped from that net cash position, the airline will still be left with about €380m, says the Irish Independent. Mr Bot said that it's prudent to retain a cash buffer, but acknowledged that the airline is considering what to do with the cash once the pension issue has been resolved. "We are very closely looking at that following the pension resolution," he said. Aer Lingus, which floated on the stock market in 2006, only to be immediately circled in a Ryanair takeover attempt, paid its first dividend in 2012 - three cent per share.
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ZIMMER FORTUNES BOOSTED BY FIRM'S SHANNON UNIT - Zimmer Worldwide generated 70% of its global revenues from making artificial knees and hips last year. The firm’s Irish unit, based in Shannon, Co Clare, specialises in constructing artificial knees. Zimmer Orthopedics Manufacturing Ltd commenced operations here in 2009 and has grown the number of employees at its base in the Shannon Free Zone to more than 300, says the Irish Examiner. The increase in profit followed revenues increasing by 5%, from $237.37m to $250.37m (€189m to €199.7m), in the 12 months to the end of December last. The accounts filed with the Companies Office disclose that the firm paid a dividend of $150m to its parent last year. The directors’ report in the accounts states that the firm continued to grow its output during 2013: “The facility continues to build its supply chain by delivering products to a number of jurisdictions worldwide.” The directors state that average headcount rose by 7%, with capital investment increasing by 9%. According to the directors, Zimmer will continue to increase output and expand its capabilities on the site. Zimmer designs, develops, manufactures, and markets orthopaedic reconstructive, spinal, and trauma devices, dental implants, and related surgical products.
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COURT RULES IN FAVOUR OF SHELLS IN $3 BILLION INDIA TAX BATTLE - Royal Dutch Shell has won a significant victory in its long-running $3 billion battle with India’s revenue authorities, in a judgment with implications for dozens of tax disputes involving multinational companies in Asia’s third-largest economy. On Tuesday, the Bombay high court ruled in favour of the Anglo-Dutch energy group over allegations that it had underpriced shares issued by Shell’s Indian subsidiary to its parent - a charge the company had attacked as “baseless”. Shell’s case provides a rare tax victory for a multinational operating in India, and follows a string of high profile battles between revenue authorities and global businesses that have dented the country's reputation as a destination for foreign investment, says the Financial Times. Businesses operating in India have long complained that its tax authorities levy claims in a manner that is often unpredictable and unfair, partly because they are forced to meet strict revenue collection targets set by the government. India’s prime minister Narendra Modi has pledged to end what his centre-right Bharatiya Janata party once described as a system of “tax terrorism”, as his government tries to encourage more foreign investment in the country. The decision on the Shell case follows a similar ruling in favour of Vodafone last month, when the British telecoms group won a case relating to what is known as transfer pricing, or the valuation of financial transfers between different parts of international companies.
