Spring appointed to advisory board of Internet firm

Mr Dick Spring, the former Tanaiste and Labour Party leader, has been appointed to the international advisory board of European Internet Capital (EIC), an e-commerce investment vehicle that plans to float on the London stock exchange next month.

Mr Spring, who is also a director of Eircom, has been granted options over 48,780 shares in the group. The options can be exercised at 41.67p and Mr Spring stands to reap an immediate paper profit as EIC is expected to float at around 100p a share.

As a member of the advisory board, Mr Spring will help source investment opportunities for the company and will also use his experience in politics and European affairs to advise the companies in which EIC has an interest. The Kerry TD is just one of a number of high-profile politicians to have lent his name to an Internet venture.

Mr David Andrews TD, who resigned as minister for foreign affairs last January, has joined the board of Invu Inc, a British software company also destined for the stock market. Invu, which is advised by Dublin-based Merrion Capital, plans to float on Nasdaq later this year. The company has developed software to allow companies to access information from the Internet securely.

Mr Spring's former partner in government, Mr Albert Reynolds TD, has become an adviser to two US Internet ventures, Wasatach and CeleXx. Wasatach owns the successful E-Pawn portal site, while CeleXx is a software development company. EPawn announced a link-up last week with FillTheJob.com, the Internet off-shoot of Marlborough International.

EIC announced its flotation plans in April, just ahead of the major reverse in the fortunes of high-technology stocks.

The company is in the process of marketing itself to European investors and plans to list on the Alternative Investment Market next month, said Mr Nick Garrett of Cazenove & Co in London, which is advising on the issue.

The Guernsey-based company was set up by Mr Simon Reid, a former executive with GE Capital. It plans to raise £40 million through the flotation, which will be used to make strategic investments in business-to-business e-commerce companies.

To date, the group has invested £7 million in five groups.