A round-up of today's business news in brief
B of I raises €2.5bn in bonds
Bank of Ireland has raised 2.5 billion on a five-year State-guaranteed benchmark bond, making it the second financial institution to borrow on the back of the extended State bank guarantee scheme.
The bank borrowed the money on the public bond at 1.45 per cent over the midswaps rate, the European reference point for pricing debt, during a volatile week in the debt markets. The bank received orders of 3.3 billion on the debt-raising, which closed yesterday. The lender is the first institution to raise a euro bond under the extended guarantee, which was introduced at the start of December. Irish Life Permanent raised $1.75 billion (€1.24 billion) this month on the sale of a three-year dollar bond.
Allied Irish Banks (AIB) has become the third financial institution to be approved by the Government to raise money under the guarantee scheme.
60% have lost jobs in architectural firms
As many as 60 per cent of employees at architectural practices in Ireland have lost their jobs over the past two years, according to a new survey undertaken by the recruitment firm Hays.
In Dublin, the figure is slightly higher with 61 per cent of staff made redundant since the end of 2007.
The Architecture in Ireland Employment report, which surveyed 178 practices at the end of last year, shows that almost one-third of architectural firms have laid off between 61 per cent and 100 per cent of their employees.
Just 16 per cent of companies surveyed for the report did not cut jobs over the two-year period
Oracle gets approval for takeover of Sun
Oracle won unconditional EU approval yesterday for its $7 billion takeover of Sun Microsystems, a month after offering public pledges to soothe regulatory concerns.
The acquisition will reshape the high-tech landscape, with Oracle, the world’s number two business software-maker, moving into the hardware business. Sun is the top player in the $17 billion high-end computer-server market.
Oracle promised in December to keep the market open for others to make storage engine software for Sun’s MySQL database and to boost investment in the unit after the European Commission launched an investigation into the deal. – (Reuters)
Luxel Biosciences secures €2.5m
Cork-based company Luxcel Biosciences has received investment of €2.5 million from the Nasdaq-listed company MOCON, after it formed an alliance with the Minneapolis, US-based firm.
Luxcel Biosciences, a producer of luminescence-based gas and pH sensors, plans to expand into new markets as a result of the support from MOCON, which produces gas-sensing technology and package testing for the food, beverage and pharmaceutical industries. Luxcel is also embarking on a new research and development (RD) investment programme.
Kindle owners will be able to use games
Owners of Amazon’s Kindle electronic reader will soon be able to purchase games and other applications for the device.
The company said yesterday it is to release a development kit access to programming interfaces, tools and documentation to build active content for the Kindle.
Among those lined up to develop apps are Electronic Arts, which already distributes popular mobile games such as Tetris and Scrabble via the iPhone and other devices.
The move is seen by analysts as a bid to fend off competition from Apple.
