Moonduster, Carroll increase ICG holding

Property developer Liam Carroll and the Philip Lynch-led Moonduster consortium have increased their shareholdings in Irish Continental Group.

Mr Carroll yesterday informed the stock market that he had acquired 5,234 ICG shares on Friday last at €25.75 each.

He now owns more than 6.3 million shares and has an interest of 26.14 per cent in the ferry company, making him ICG's biggest stakeholder.

Moonduster, meanwhile, bought 144,000 shares at €25.40 each. The consortium - comprising One51 Capital and the Doyle shipping group - now controls 25.89 per cent of ICG's shares.

Moonduster's latest share buying took place on Friday, the same day it was censured by the Irish Takeover Panel for breaching its rules.

This followed the purchase of more than 500,000 shares on September 21th from the New York-based Octavian fund manager, which included a "top-up arrangement" based on the future price of ICG shares.

The details of this arrangement were not revealed to the market for 10 days after the transaction, breaching takeover rules.

As part of its determination, the takeover panel said the additional payment could not be made to Octavian.

Reports suggested that Mr Carroll and Aella, a management buyout vehicle led by ICG boss Eamonn Rothwell, had urged the takeover panel to consider a forced sale by Moonduster of its shares.