Ardagh says M&A deals on pause as it focuses on flotation

Packaging giant Ardagh Group has said there are no further acquisitions in the near future as it focuses on a possible floatation early next year.

Speaking at an event in Dublin on Friday, chairman Paul Coulson, said the company plans further acquisitions in time but is currently concentrated on lowering leverage ratios.

Mr Coulson said the group plans to pay dividends to shareholders from the outset of its life as a listed company.

His comments come after he sold $1.715 billion (€1.53billon) of dollar and euro-denominated bonds last week to refinance some higher-cost loans and return €270 million of capital to shareholders at a time when public equity markets remain closed. Mr Coulson owns about 36 per cent of the company.

Speaking at the Institute of Directors annual lunch in Dublin, Mr Coulson said it was an "incredibly dangerous decision" for former British prime minister David Cameron to have called a referendum on leaving the European Union without fully understanding the effects of the outcome.

He said the decision had put at risk huge amounts of foreign direct investment (fdi) into Britain.

“These chickens are now coming home to roost,” he said.

Mr Coulson said the damage done to Europe by Britain’s vote to leave the EU was “extremely serious.”

“It is very hard to see how Britain is going to get a better deal,” said Mr Coulson, adding that the UK was complacent and in denial” about the impact Brexit will have on it.