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Goldman Sachs close to SIV deal

Goldman Sachs is close to finalising a plan to restructure a $7 billion investment vehicle formerly run by London-based hedge fund Cheyne Capital, in a move that could potentially usher in a crucial new phase in the credit turmoil.

The US bank's proposed reorganisation of the so-called structured investment vehicle is set to be just the first of a number of deals that could see about $18 billion worth of SIV assets restructured in the coming months.

The deal marks the first time that any collapsed SIV has been restructured in this way.

Deloitte Touche, which was brought in as receiver for the Dublin-listed SIV formerly known as Cheyne Finance, was yesterday close to signing off on the plan. - (Financial Times service)

Cryptologic to supply Betjacks

Online gaming software developer Cryptologic said yesterday that it will be sole supplier to Irish internet betting site Betjacks.

Dublin-based Cryptologic said that it has won the exclusive rights to supply Betjacks with its internet gaming and poker software through its subsidiary, Waterlogic Ltd.

The company intends to target customers in Ireland, Canada, South Africa and Britain.

Russian tycoon in war of words with BP

Mikhail Fridman, a Russian billionaire shareholder in TNK-BP, escalated a war of words against BP yesterday, saying its "arrogance" was a key reason for a mounting corporate dispute over their joint oil venture. But Mr Fridman, chairman of Alfa Group, said they were now considering legal action to oust its BP-backed chief executive, Robert Dudley.

Mr Fridman said the legal action he and his partners were planning to launch against BP was merely an attempt to make sure TNK-BP was run on a parity basis and not as a subsidiary of BP. He dismissed BP's claims that the Russian billionaire shareholders were corporate raiders seeking to take control of the company as a ruse to cover the British energy group's lack of any "real arguments" against their demands on governance. - (Financial Times service)

Business failures in Britain set to soar

Business failures in Britain are forecast to rise 18 per cent between 2007 and 2009 as the credit crunch and rising food and fuel prices take their toll, a report published in London showed yesterday.

Approximately 17,874 businesses will become insolvent in 2008, up from 16,168 last year, and the figure will rise to 19,124 in 2009, the report by BDO Stoy Hayward forecast.

That would be the highest level since the dot.com bubble burst in 2002, which saw 19,928 business failures.

The forecast rise in failures is significantly worse than the 11.4 per cent increase projected in December.

Profit growth is also expected to slow to an estimated 0.9 per cent in 2008 and 2009, down from a record 9.5 per cent last year and the lowest level since the early 1990s, the BDO Stoy Hayward report said. - (Reuters)

O'Reilly to head broadcasting lobby

Today FM chief executive Willie O'Reilly has been appointed chairman of the Independent Broadcasters of Ireland (IBI), the representative body for Ireland's independent commercial broadcasters, both radio and television.

Mr O'Reilly's appointment comes as the Broadcasting Bill is being debated before the Houses of the Oireachtas. The Bill is likely to be enacted later this year.

The IBI is seeking a seat for an independent broadcaster on the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland and is also hoping for changes to rules on radio licence approvals. The body argues that where the renewal of a licence is not contested, it should be renewed for 10 years, as opposed to the five years envisaged by the Bill. The IBI is also advocating a change to the proposed advertising cap of 10 minutes per hour outlined in the Bill.