Current Account

Aer Lingus floating on a sea of advice: Now that Martin Cullen has finally pressed the button on the Aer Lingus flotation, spare a thought for the professional advisers on the deal.

No doubt they will be well-paid for, wielding their gold-tipped pens and double-barrelled mobile phones. But with at least three dozen of them in the room - yes, three dozen - it must be a frightful task to conduct meetings. Who says what when? And can any of them have their voices heard above the din of negotiation and corporate finance wizzardry?

Keen as they are to get the airline away, the Government and the company have cast their net wide and far to secure choice advisers in this difficult task. Not only was there work going in Dublin and London, where Aer Lingus will have dual listings, but the big New Yorkers had a look-in too. Some of those with the magic wands are familiar; some are not.

Among the Londoners known in these parts is Russell Chambers of UBS Investment Bank, which is joint underwriter with AIB Capital Markets and adviser to the Government. When with Merrill Lynch, Chambers led the Telecom Éireann flotation. He is assisted this time round by Melanie Gee and Adrian Lewis.

For AIB, which partnered Merrill Lynch in the Telecom sale, the main men are Mon O'Driscoll, Alan Doherty and Finbarr Griffin of Goodbody Stockbrokers.

Goldman Sachs International and Dublin-based Merrion Capital are advising Aer Lingus itself. The Golden boys on the case are rugby ace Hugo MacNeill and Basil Geoghegan, who had a role in the C&C flotation in 2004.

Merrion's side of the action is being handled by Dan Ennis and Tim Quigley.

Then there's a legion of public relations people. Pádraig McKeon and Orla Bensen of Drury Communications are advising Aer Lingus. So too are Rory Godson and Victoria Palmer-Moore of Powerscourt in London. Mark Kenny and Jonathan Neilan of K Capital Source are also advising the company.

On the Government side, the PR drive is being handled by Gerry O'Sullivan and Mark Leech of Q4. As former communications chief in Telecom and Eircom, O'Sullivan has been down this particular road before.

Just as Aer Lingus has hired PR help in London, Bertie et al hired City firm Finsbury to tell their side of the story. James Murgatroyd and Edward Simpkins are the go-to folk there.

That's a grand total of 10 PRs, enough for a industry convention, or, at the very least, a decent party. If all that suggests the initial public offering will not be a lonely affair for those involved, it doesn't even include the lawyers.

No less than three firms are acting for Aer Lingus: Arthur Cox in Dublin; Davis Polk & Wardwell in the US; and Norton Rose in London. Cox's lawyers on the deal are corporate partners Eugene McCague, James O'Dwyer, Brian O'Gorman and Stephen Hegarty. For Davis Polk & Wardwell, Nigel Wilson is the man. Norton Rose have Mark Bankes and Mark Lloyd-Williams.

On the Government side, the legals are Dublin firm William Fry and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. Corporate partner Owen O'Connell is William Fry's man. Freshfields have Julian Makin and Alan Ryan.

And still there's more. UBS and AIB are taking their own legal advice from McCannFitzGerald in Dublin and New York firm Shearman & Sterling. Barry Devereux of McCannFitz is the man while Peter King and John Ellard are acting for Shearman & Sterling.

No-one said that selling Aer Lingus was going to be easy. With dozens of advisers involved, there may well be work going for a referee and some umpires too. Black jersey time.

Quinn skips limelight

Fermanagh billionaire Seán Quinn rarely makes appearances at media events but the assembled reporters and photographers remained none the less hopeful yesterday given the size of the announcement being made by Quinn Direct in Navan. The red carpet rolled out at the entrance to the Newgrange Hotel added to the optimism.

However, when the press conference started there was only one Quinn Direct representative at the top table, Colin Morgan, general manager. Two Government ministers were present but no sign of the great man himself.

However, during their addresses Noel Dempsey and Micheál Martin both mentioned Seán Quinn being present. By the time of the second mention the photographers' levels of anxiety had reached spontaneous combustion proportions. The media lost interest in the top table and considered initiating a search of all floors. The mystery was soon resolved, however, when sources disclosed that the tall young man at the back of the room was Seán Quinn junior.

Requests to pose for a photograph were denied.