In Short

A round-up of today's other stories in brief.

Regulator to assess Eircom takeover bid

Competition Authority scrutiny of Babcock & Brown's €2.36 billion takeover of Eircom with the telco's employee share ownership trust (Esot) will be triggered today when a scheme of arrangement document outlining all aspects of the deal is sent to shareholders.

On foot of this document, Eircom's board will formally recommend the transaction to shareholders.

German business sentiment improves

German firms are more confident about their country's economy than at any time since 1992, latest results from a regular survey suggested yesterday. The survey by the DIHK, the country's chambers of industry and commerce, also showed that firms' expectations for job creation are higher than at any time for five years.

DIHK managing director Martin Wansleben predicted that German unemployment would fall by 300,000 this year, But he added that Germany's economy - the largest in Europe , accounting for just under one-third the total euro zone economy - could be damaged by tax increases later this year, as well as by a stronger euro.

B of I to invest €5m in web service

Bank of Ireland announced yesterday that it will invest€€5 million over the coming months to enhance its online service, www.365online.com. A range of new features will be introduced to the website on a phased basis, such as mobile phone top-ups and international payments.

Customers will also receive free banking if they make three payments per quarter from their current account using the bank's online service.

Calyx completes UK acquisition

Irish ICT group Calyx has completed its acquisition of two divisions of the UK Matrix Communications Group, Network Partners (Holdings) and Matrix Integrations. This followed the admission of consideration and placing shares to trading on London's Alternative Investment Market (AIM) and Dublin's Irish Enterprise Exchange (IEX) yesterday morning.

The purchase was approved by its shareholders at the company's extraordinary general meeting last week, and is the company's largest acquisition to date.

EBS to issue €1.5bn residential fund

EBS is planning to issue a new €1.5 billion residential mortgage-backed security as part of its continuing Emerald funding programme. The security, the third tranche in the multi-billion Emerald programme, will be sold during a roadshow due to begin next week. - (Reuters)

AIB director spends $893,000 on shares

AIB non-executive director Robert Wilmers has spent $892,690 (€709,000) on more shares in the bank. Mr Wilmers, who has made a number of purchases over past weeks, bought 19,500 ADRs in New York last Thursday and Friday.

Explorer finds sulphide deposit

Precious metals explorer and developer Minco said yesterday that it has discovered a major new sulphide mineralisation deposit in central Mexico.

The company, which also has zinc exploration projects in Ireland, began drilling late last month near the city of Zacatecas as part of its Bilboa project, and has intersected zones of oxide and sulphide mineralisation. Minco believes there may be four such zones present in the area.