Battle for ICG to intensify as bidder's stake rises

Moonduster, one of the parties seeking to take over Irish Continental Group (ICG), said yesterday it is prepared to pay €25.20 a share for the ferry operator, a 5 per cent premium on the current price offered by rival bidder Aella.

In a statement to the stock exchange, Moonduster, which comprises Philip Lynch's investment vehicle One51 Capital and Cork-based shipping company the Doyle Group, said that One51 had yesterday acquired 59,138 ICG shares in the form of Contracts For Difference (CFDs) at a price of as much as €25.20 each.

As a result, if the consortium were to make a formal offer for ICG it would have to be at or above this level, valuing ICG at €616.7 million.

Last month, ICG's independent directors withdrew their recommendation of Moonduster's previous €22 a share offer in favour of a €24 a share offer from Aella, a management buyout group led by ICG chief executive Eamonn Rothwell. Shareholders are due to vote on this offer, which values the company at €611.8 million, at an extraordinary general meeting in Dublin on Wednesday.

Shareholders will now have to decide whether to accept the Aella offer or reject it in the hope that Moonduster will make a formal bid at the higher price.

It is believed that any offer from Moonduster will be subject to Competition Authority approval as a result of Doyle Group's shipping interests.

In a separate statement to the stock exchange yesterday, property developer Liam Carroll announced he had bought a further 183,036 ICG shares, bringing his total stake in the company to 23.2 per cent.

Mr Carroll, who is believed to be interested in the 33 acres of land currently leased by ICG in Dublin port, has paid €25 per share for a substantial proportion of his holding. As a result he isn't expected to vote in favour of Aella's €24 a share offer and the size of his holding means he can block the bid.

Aella has a beneficial interest in 14.1 per cent of ICG's shares and, under its scheme of arrangement to acquire the company, it requires 75 per cent approval from shareholders for its bid to succeed. The consortium is not allowed to vote on behalf of its own shares at the meeting, meaning Mr Rothwell must get the support of 75 per cent of the remaining shares to get the deal across the line.

Following yesterday's acquisition of additional shares, Moonduster's holding in ICG stands at 22.14 per cent.

In another statement issued late yesterday, ICG's independent directors said they had noted the announcement by Moonduster, but said that the meetings to consider Aella's €24 a share offer will still take place as planned. They also said they still continue to recommend the revised Aella offer.

ICG's shares added 2 per cent yesterday, to close up 50 cent, at €25.50 yesterday.

ICG, which reported revenues of €163.2 million in the six months to the end of June, has been in an offer period since early March when Aella launched its first bid for the company at €18.50 a share.