Trintech buyback approval raises regulatory issues

Current Account was interested to see that Trintech got the go-ahead for its proposed share buyback from the Irish Takeover Panel.

The panel decided that Cyril and John McGuire, the two brothers who co-founded the company and between them own more than 30 per cent, were not acting in concert. John's recent departure from the company may have been a key factor behind that decision. If they had been deemed to have been acting in concert, the size of their holding would have triggered a mandatory bid.

But why Trintech got approval to buy back up to $5 million of its shares, representing around 20 per cent of the firm at current share price levels, when Kingspan fell foul of the panel remains unclear.

Kingspan was forced to suspend its buyback - which was capped at 5 per cent of the company's shares - because the directors controlled more than 30 per cent of the equity. The panel ruled that the company required independent shareholder approval before it could proceed.

But what then of Independent News & Media, another company that has been an active purchaser of its own shares in recent times?

Its executive chairman, Sir Anthony O'Reilly, owns nearly 27 per cent of the company and along with other board members controlled 29.5 per cent of the shares at the end of last year. The company's buyback has, in all probability, pushed that figure above the 30 per cent threshold.

Assuming that buyback has proceeded with Takeover Panel approval, it raises further questions over the whole process, particularly its transparency.