IRISH M&A TALLY FALLS IN WAKE OF $62 BILLION SHIRE DEAL - The value of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) involving Irish entities plunged 75% to €18.4 billion in the first half of 2019.
But the huge slide was the result of a single deal announced in the first half of last year, as Takeda moved to buy Ireland-headquartered pharma group Shire for $62 billion (€55 billion). The massive swing highlights the outsized impact of big, largely US, corporate transactions on the Irish data. Excluding that deal, the first-half tally for 2019 was down 6%. There were a total of 204 M&A deals involving Irish entities in the first six months of this year, compared with 260 in the corresponding period of last year, writes the Irish Independent. Global uncertainty fuelled by Brexit and the continuing US-China trade battle has generally weighed on M&A activity. So too has weak sterling and concerns about wider global economic growth. The Refinitiv data shows that in the first half of 2019, Arthur Cox was the top legal adviser to deals with an Irish link, acting on 19, followed by A&L Goodbody with 12 and William Fry's 11 mandates. Deloitte was the busiest financial adviser, acting on eight Irish deals. Deals announced in the first half of the year that involved Irish entities included the recently announced plan by Bank of Ireland to sell its UK credit card business for €591m. This includes Post Office and AA credit cards issued by the bank, as well as its own branded cards. Also included in the tally compiled by Refinitiv for the 'Irish Independent' is the €300m-plus sale by CRH of its European shutters and awnings business to Stella Group.
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IRELAND 'MOST EXPOSED' EU STATE TO US TARIFFS THREAT - Ireland is "by far the most exposed" among European countries to proposed US tariffs given the high volume of whiskey we export to the country, a leading economist has said.
On Monday, the US trade representative set out a series of tariffs on goods including meats, cheeses, olives, coffee and, most worryingly for the State, "Irish and Scotch whiskies". According to Ibec chief economist Gerard Brady, that last category makes up the biggest proportion of exports by the 28 European Union countries to be affected, accounting for more than €1.6 billion out of a total of €4.4 billion. In the Republic alone, about €400 million worth of exports are covered under the US list, he said. The Republic, he said, is the country most exposed by the latest threatened tariffs on a per capita basis, with €88.30 of exports per person under threat, writes the Irish Times. Second on the list was Denmark, for which €27.80 of exports per person are under threat. The Irish exposure is driven primarily by whiskey, which comprises 85% of total goods under threat. Some dairy products would also fall under the US tariff regime. "If you look at the overall impact of these tariffs on the Irish economy it's tiny, but if you look at specific sectors hit, it's a huge chunk of their overall exports," Mr Brady said. The supplemental list of products that could potentially be subject to additional duties were set out by the US office of the trade representative in response to what it alleged was the "harm caused by EU aircraft subsidies". Mr Brady said the proposed tariffs were "targeted". "Six countries from the EU 28 make up 80% of the exports under threat," he said. These are the UK, Italy, Germany, Ireland, Spain, and France.
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BANK OF IRELAND'S VULNERABLE CUSTOMER UNIT DEALS WITH 400 CUSTOMERS IN LAST MONTH - Bank of Ireland has said it has dealt with more than 400 cases involving vulnerable customers in the past month.
It said a dedicated unit is being set up to train staff across the country to deal with an increasing demand. The bank said it will mean a greater level of supports for people with age-related or cognitive impairment, who face financial abuse or suffer with illness or addiction, reports the Irish Examiner. According to the most recent Central Statistics Office (CSO) census, there are 643,000 people with a disability in Ireland. A report prepared by the Department of Health shows that the number of people over-65 is increasing by over 20,000 a year - with 673,000 people over 65 as of 2018, an increase of 35% since 2009. Laura Lynch from Bank of Ireland explained how people can access the service. "The customer can either get referred to the vulnerable customer unit for guidance, the branch can deal with them directly for support from the unit or some of the advocacy groups we've worked with [can refer people], who've worked with our customers indirectly," Ms Lynch said. "We've worked with some of the best groups in Ireland to develop this support structure and the unit," she added.
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STAFF AT THE HUT SHARE £21m WINDFALL AFTER SALES BOOST - About 300 employees at The Hut Group have shared a £21 million windfall after it increased sales.
The Manchester-based online retailer, set up in 2004 by Matthew Moulding and John Gallemore, sells cosmetics through its Look Fantastic and Glossy Box brands and health food products under its Myprotein label. It employs more than 5,000 people in Britain and was valued at £4 billion last year, says The Times. Mr Moulding, 47, its chief executive, revealed that the company's share buyback scheme, which involves him buying back performance share awards granted to employees, had resulted in several workers becoming multimillionaires, with "no one in the scheme receiving less than a couple of hundred grand".
