A BID for the British-based, Irish-registered transport company Seafield may be in the offing after the Irish transport group Imari swooped for a 5.4 per cent stake in the company.
Seafield is currently valued at €11.3 million (£8.9 million) but any bid would probably have to be pitched above the 17 cent (13p) share price on the Dublin market or 12 1/2 p sterling in London.
Imari and Seafield held tentative merger discussions five years ago without success. Industry sources believe the privately-owned Imari intended to reverse into Seafield and maintain the stock market listing at that time. They added that any move by Imari for Seafield this time would undoubtedly be aimed at giving Imari the stock market listing it wants. This would give Imari's two venture capital shareholders, ACT and ICC, a market for their investment.
Imari chief executive Mr Ted O'Neill could not be contacted for comment.
Imari is thought to have a turnover of around £75 million and is substantially bigger than Seafield which had sales of £10 million in 1997 and £5.2 million in the first half of 1998. The group had profits of £603,000 in 1997 and £325,000 in the first half of 1998. All of the group's transport and warehousing businesses are based in Britain. Imari was founded 12 years ago by Mr O'Neill, who is one of the major shareholders in the group. It has grown rapidly in the past decade, with funding from venture capital groups like ACT and ICC as well as businessman, Mr Bernard Somers.
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