Minister for Public Enterprise Ms Mary O'Rourke may look abroad for tips on how to engender interest in a flotation of Aer Lingus, assuming the project ever gets off the ground.
Deutsche Post, which is looking to flog between one-quarter and one-third of its shares to the public, is finding it somewhat hard to drum up interest in the offering.
The group is looking for small shareholders in Britain, Germany and five other European states. In today's high-technology world, it seems their is little enthusiasm for `snail mail' or letter post.
Now brokers have resorted to tempting prospective shareholders with prizes ranging from Christmas hampers to a new Mercedes C-class car. In addition, the IPO is being set at a price well below peers.
It will all sound familiar to Ms O'Rourke, who's efforts to offload the national airline at anything other than a bargain-basement price look doomed.
Maybe, as an incentive, she could offer prospective shareholders shares in high-flying Ryanair alongside their Aer Lingus investment.
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