Ganley stake in US telco firm Rivada down to 13%

THE STAKE held by Declan Ganley, founder of the anti-Lisbon Treaty group Libertas, in US telecoms business Rivada Networks has been reduced to 13 per cent, according to accounts filed recently.

Mr Ganley is founder, chairman and chief executive of the business, according to its website.

Accounts for Rivada Networks, a Galway-based subsidiary of the US parent, show that Mr Ganley’s ownership has dropped from the 43.2 per cent he had at the end of 2007.

The accounts show that New York-based investment manager Ken Fields, who was appointed a director of the Irish subsidiary in February of last year, now holds a 5.1 per cent shareholding in the parent, Rivada Networks International LLC.

Galway based James O’Reilly, who resigned as a director of the Irish company in February, had a 4 per cent stake at the end of 2007 and the accounts state his shareholding at the end of 2008 was “n/a”.

According to the Rivada website, Mr Fields is “the joint owner and manager of Natron Group, a global/macro hedge fund based in New York.

“From 1991 to 2001, Mr Fields managed a sizeable global/macro portfolio for Goldman Sachs Princeton LLC on an exclusive basis. He has over 20 years of experience in trading and investment management including managing the foreign currency and precious metals options desk for Lehman Brothers and managing a proprietary portfolio for Bankers Trust.”

The accounts of the Galway company show an increase in both debtors and creditors over the 2007 year. It had debtors of €712,759 at the end of 2008, and creditors of more than €980,000. It had a deficit of shareholders’ funds of €250,370.

The accounts of its US parent are not publicly available.