PTSB SHORTLISTS THREE BIDDERS FOR LEINSTER AND MUNSTER LOAN SALES - Permanent TSB has drawn up a shortlist of three bidders for the two portfolios of Irish loans it is seeking to sell.
The Irish Times has learned that Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and Mars Capital Ireland have been shortlisted for the Project Leinster and Project Munster portfolios State-controlled PTSB is seeking to offload. The portfolios of non-core commercial real estate loans were put up for sale before Christmas. They have a combined face value of about €1.5 billion, with PTSB engaging Morgan Stanley to handle the process. The level of bids submitted to date is not clear but the bank is not expected to achieve face value on the loans. Morgan Stanley began approaching potential bidders late last year and opened a data room for interested parties in December. This allowed them to access information about the assets involved in the sale. The bank is expected to select a winning bid by April. The Leinster portfolio is thought to comprise loans with a face value of about €1 billion while Munster's par value is more than €500 million.
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CAPITAL TO SAVE €21,000 A YEAR WITH SOLAR PANELS - Dublin City Council will cut its electricity bills by €21,000 a year by installing solar panels on the roof of the Civic Offices and at four public libraries. The panels, which produce power using natural light as opposed to sunshine, will be installed on libraries in Coolock, Ballymun, Cabra and Raheny as well as its headquarters in Wood Quay. The panels are expected to cost €250,000. But the cost of the installation will be repaid in just 13 years, after which the savings become permanent, writes the Irish Independent. The works are being funded in part by the EU, and the panels are expected to be installed later this year. The Green business officer with the council, Mark Bennett, said he hoped the initiative would encourage businesses to install the technology to help reduce carbon emissions and cut bills. Local authorities in Tipperary have already deployed solar panels.
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BARRYROE DEVELOPMENT COULD TAKE UNTIL 2020 - First oil flow from the much-anticipated Barryroe field in the Celtic Sea may not occur until the end of this decade, according to analysts. Providence Resources confirmed on Monday that agreement has been reached, in principle, regarding a long-awaited 'farm-in' deal at Barryroe, which will introduce additional development investment and potentially halve the Tony O'Reilly Jr-led firm's 80% stake in the asset. However, conclusion of the deal with the as-yet unnamed partner relies upon said suitor raising the required level of financing. This could delay overall development of Barryroe, according to the Irish Examiner. "I think it is likely to be a 2018-2020 timeframe, due solely to the fact that this is when people - investors and banks - are going to be more disposed to financing the project," said Zac Phillips, mining analyst with London-based corporate finance house SP Angel.
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UK GOVERNMENT CLOSES RANKS ON HSBC TAX ISSUE - The UK government has insisted that ministers did not know the full facts about the HSBC tax scandal until this week, in a collective closing of ranks in Parliament and in British financial services over the affair, says the Financial Times. “No government minister had any knowledge that HSBC may have been involved in wrongdoing in regard to its Swiss banking arm prior to the reports of the last couple of days,” a spokesman for UK prime minister David Cameron said. The Downing Street spokesman said this assertion applied to all ministers, including Lord Green, who served as trade minister in the coalition from 2011 to 2013. Lord Green was chief executive and chairman of HSBC from 2003 to 2010, which includes the period when its Swiss private bank allegedly colluded with clients to conceal “black” accounts from tax authorities. Lord Green has declined to comment. He was at the helm of HSBC when the bank unsuccessfully tried to use the French courts to prevent the transfer of data revealing alleged tax evasion by its clients to British tax authorities. The data - stolen by a former bank employee - was passed by French authorities to HM Revenue & Customs in 2010. HSBC said at the time: “We are doing all we can to protect the interests and confidentiality of our clients.”
