The Competition Authority has approved the purchase of the online property site MyHome.ie by The Irish Times Ltd.
The merger clearance, which was notified on the authority's website yesterday, follows a decision by the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Micheál Martin, not to direct a phase two inquiry into the merger following the Competition Authority determination that no issues arose as a result of the deal.
The Minister has the authority to order a more comprehensive phase two inquiry in all cases where a media business is involved in a merger, even if the initial or phase one inquiry finds no competition issues.
The two sides are now free to complete the deal and Liam Kavanagh, the finance director of The Irish Irish Times Ltd, said the €50 million transaction will be completed shortly.
There will be an initial payment of €40 million and an additional payment of €10 million deferred over a five-year period.
MyHome will operate on a standalone basis to The Irish Times Ltd, which publishes The Irish Times. MyHome.ie was founded in 2001 by estate agents Sherry FitzGerald, Douglas Newman Good and Gunne Residential. Sherry FitzGerald holds 23.5 per cent. The Gunne family and Douglas Newman Good own 18.8 per cent each. AIB has an 18.7 per cent stake, while chief executive Jim Miley has 10.8 per cent. The remaining shares are held by other investors.
Over 850 estate agents advertise on the site, which is visited by more than 300,000 users each month with approximately 29 million page views in May 2006.
In the year to December 2005, the company reported earnings before interest tax depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of €2 million on turnover of €5 million. Forecast EBITDA and turnover for the year ending December 2006 is expected to be €2.5 million and €6.2 million respectively. The deal will be financed mostly from The Irish Times's own resources, but there will be some borrowings, which will be on a non-recourse basis to The Irish Times. The Irish Times was advised by NCB Corporate Finance.
