Firm linked to Goodman increased in size to €262m

Silverbirch Investments SA, a Luxembourg company associated with Larry Goodman's ABP group, increased its size to €262 million, from €159 million, during the year to the end of March 2013, according to accounts just filed in Luxembourg.

The increase brings to €968 million the size of the financial assets known to have been held in Luxembourg by two companies associated with Mr Goodman, at the end of March 2013. Neither company had any employees.

The companies get loans from, and makes investments in and gives loans to, other companies, in Luxembourg and abroad. One of the advantages that can flow from such financing arrangements is that the taxable profits of companies in other jurisdictions can be reduced by way of interest and dividend payments made to the companies in Luxembourg.

Tax compliant

A spokesman for ABP had no comment to make when contacted. Earlier this month, he said Mr Goodman lives in Ireland, is tax resident here and is fully tax compliant. “All companies in which Mr Goodman is involved, including the ABP Food Group, pay their taxes in the countries in which they operate,” he said. “For the accounting year ended March 31st, 2014, the effective rate of corporation tax for the entire group of companies was in excess of the Irish corporate tax rate.”

The latest Silverbirch accounts show it recorded a loss of €690,523, having booked a profit of €2.48 million the year before. Interest income was €12.78 million, up from €8.9 million the previous year. Interest payable was €13.6 million, up from €8 million.

Shares in affiliated undertakings increased by €28.7 million during the year, to €54 million. The company owns 30 per cent of a Maltese company, Aburg Ltd, and 100 per cent of Ebolowa, a company with an address in Castlebellingham, Co Louth.

Debtors included €58.8 million owed by group companies within one year, and €133.8 million owed by group companies after more than one year.

Documents from Malta show that Aburg is owned by Silverbirch and a Jersey company called KH Holdings Ltd. The latter company is owned by Parma Management Services, which does not publish accounts and has an address at Castlebellingham, Co Louth.

Silverbirch was formerly known as Parma Investments and documents in the Luxembourg registry show that in August 2013, at an egm in Luxembourg, it was agreed that the share capital of Parma, now Silverbirch, would be increased from 100,000 €10 shares, to one million €10 shares.

It was agreed that an entity based in Liechtenstein called the Rabena Foundation, which owned 100,000 shares, would take out the new shares and pay slightly more than €300 million. The payment was to be made by way of approximately €124 million in cash and €176 million in debts Parma owed to group entities which it would now assign to Rabena.

The egm agreed to change Parma’s articles of association so that, subject to the applicable law, the Parma/Silverbirch share capital could be reduced by the repurchase and cancellation of shares, the price to be paid to be decided at the time. Who owns Rabena Foundation is not known.

Beef processing

The ABP Group, one of Europe’s largest beef processing businesses, is headquartered in Ardee, Co Louth, and has operating plants in Ireland, the UK, Poland, Holland, Denmark, Austria and Spain. The Luxembourg companies associated with Mr Goodman also have links with investments in the Blackrock and Hermitage hospitals, and other investments.

Another Luxembourg company, Parlesse Investments, recorded a profit of €52.6 million in the year to the end of March 2013, according to accounts filed some time ago. It paid almost no tax. The previous year the company made a profit of €80 million and paid €165,700 in tax. It had financial assets of €809 million at the end of the 2013 financial year.