COULSON'S ARDAGH EDGES CLOSER TO €3 BILLION BUY - Packaging giant Ardagh, which is controlled by Dublin financier Paul Coulson, is edging closer to what would be its biggest ever acquisition - a €3 billion purchase of a unit being sold by French industrial giant Saint Gobain.
Saint Gobain has effectively had its Verallia glass packaging unit up for sale for months, with Ardagh and international private equity giants among those in the running to buy it, says the Irish Independent. It's been speculated that it could fetch as much as €3 billion and, if Ardagh is successful, it would be another transformative deal for group, which has its roots in Irish Glass. First round bids for Verallia were submitted last week and a short-list of potential buyers is due to be drafted by next week. There's no certainty Ardagh will make that shortlist, with stiff competition for the Verallia business. However, it's likely to be key contender. Ardagh succeeded in buying Verallia's division in the United States last year for €1 billion after a protracted battle with the US Federal Trade Commission, which had voiced competition concerns. That forced Ardagh to agree to a number of concessions, including the sale of some US plants, to seal the deal.
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HOUSE PRICES IN NORTH GROWING FASTER THAN UK MARKET - Rapidly rising house prices and sales drove the North’s housing market to outperform every other region in the UK last month according to latest statistics published on Thursday by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and Ulster Bank, says the Irish Times. According to the RICS the combination of rising prices and sales during March plus an increase in “instructions, enquiries and expectations” helped the local market deliver a strong performance compared to its counterparts in the UK. But the industry body has also warned that with more potential buyers entering the market there is now an issue with supply and demand which it predicts could push local property prices higher. Samuel Dickey, RICS Northern Ireland spokesman, said: “Northern Ireland recorded the highest price balance of all UK regions during March and has the highest price expectations over the next three months. This reflects the fact that the local market remains in recovery mode. Unlike other UK regions, average house prices here remain significantly below their peak and have a long way to go before they return to those levels.”
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UK DRILLER PLANS TO BOOST IRISH ACREAGE - UK exploration firm, Europa Oil and Gas has confirmed it will seek to increase its Irish acreage by bidding for more prospects in this year’s Atlantic Margin licensing round. The company co-owns three licences off the Kerry coast, in the south Porcupine Basin, where it acts as junior partner with US firm Kosmos Energy, says the Irish Examiner. Kosmos is set to make a decision before the end of June on whether drilling activity will begin, on the asset base, in the next year. The US company also has interests across Africa and it remains to be seen what takes precedence in its 2016 drilling plans. The Irish assets, however, have identified 1.5 billion barrels of gross mean ‘un-risked’ prospective oil resources. As part of its half-year results presentation, Europa yesterday said technical work has provided strong encouragement to participate in the new Irish offshore licensing round. It views its Irish operations as key to its growth.
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IMF WARNS UK ON DEFICIT REDUCTION PLANS - Britain’s next government will not be able to balance its books by the end of the decade, the International Monetary Fund has concluded in a blow to the rival political parties competing with ambitious spending pledges ahead of next month’s election. The organisation predicts that tax revenues will fall short of the Office for Budget Responsibility’s expectations and whoever wins the general election on May 7 will be forced to spend more than currently planned, leaving the books in the red, says the Financial Times. The assessment from Washington in the fund’s twice-yearly Fiscal Monitor highlights the difficulty of eliminating the £90 billion deficit at a time of moderate growth and significant pressures on public spending. The warning comes as all political parties have suggested they will not raise taxes except for specific projects, are able to spend more on the National Health Service and childcare and will reduce the deficit significantly. It highlights the risks to deficit reduction from economic uncertainty as well as the uncosted promises by politicians highlighted by the Institute for Fiscal Studies on Tuesday.
