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

GM offloads Saturn brand to Penske

General Motors yesterday said it was selling its Saturn brand to Penske Automotive Group, the listed dealership chain. The sale, part of the bankrupt Detroit carmaker’s plan to pare back its portfolio to four brands, comes in the same week that GM agreed to sell its Hummer brand to China’s Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery.

Under terms of the deal, Penske will retain rights to the brand as well as certain other Saturn assets.

GM and Penske did not give a price for the deal, which they said was expected to close in the third quarter of this year. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009

Realtime opens office in Boston

Realtime Technologies, which was founded in Dublin, announced yesterday that it has established its North American headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts.

Realtime intends to use its US base to develop its research division. The Boston office will employ a research and development team, as well as sales and marketing representatives.

Quigley to step down at IFG group

IFG executive director Victor Quigley is to step down from day-to-day management within the company and reduce his work commitments with effect from the end of June.

Mr Quigley (63) has been an executive director at IFG for the past 20 years. He will remain as a non-executive director.

Capita acquires Capmark business

UK professional support services group Capita announced yesterday that it has acquired the European administration business of the Capmark Financial group.

The acquired companies provide asset administration services from offices based in Ireland, Britain and Germany, and will become part of the Capita Fiduciary group which has had a presence in Ireland since 2007.

FIBI says Ireland must support own banks

Ireland must be seen to appreciate and support international banks operating here as well as its indigenous banking sector, Liam Donlon, chairman of the Federation of International Banks in Ireland (FIBI), said at the organisation’s annual lunch yesterday.

One of the challenges faced by FIBI members is maintaining the support of parent banks for their Irish operations, he said.

“There is no more powerful marketing force in an organisation than one of its own successful units. In this initiative we need to be supported by the governmental institutions.”

Murtagh elected global president

Brendan Murtagh, a founding partner of LHM Casey McGrath in Dublin, has been elected global president of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants worldwide.

The accountancy body has 493,500 members and students in 170 countries.

Covidien move to Ireland completed

Covidien, the healthcare company spun off from Tyco International, said yesterday that the relocation of its corporate headquarters to Ireland had been completed, following receipt of the required approval from the Supreme Court of Bermuda where it was previously located. Covidien has had operations in Ireland for nearly 30 years in medical devices, imaging and sales.

Newcourt receiver

In a report yesterday on the appointment of a receiver to Newcourt, it was stated that receiver David Carson worked with PricewaterhouseCoopers. In fact, Mr Carson is a partner with Deloitte.