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Rival bidders for Irish Continental remain locked in stalemate and are highly unlikely to submit improved offers for the ferry company by 26 July, as requested by the ICG board.
MBO bid vehicle Aella and the Moonduster consortium are understood to have met last Thursday (19 July) to discuss a potential compromise or to determine whether one side was prepared to either back down or improve their bid. Both sides have offered EUR 22 per share.
It was suggested that the meeting failed to resolve the impasse, and that there have since been no further attempts to re-enter discussions or reach an amicable solution.
It has also been reported that the unidentified stake-bidder in the company is Irish property investor Liam Carroll. Carroll reportedly holds around 10% of ICG via Contracts for Difference. Under Irish takeover rules, holders of CDF’s who do not hold other forms of shares are not required to declare their interests.
Carroll could not be reached for comment and it remains unclear whether he supports either bidder or is contemplating making his own bid for the company. Carroll could sway the situation by pledging his irrevocable support for an improved bid for one side or the other. In 2005, Carroll acquired an 8.3% stake in Ireland-based Jurys Doyle Hotel Group which he sold to eventual acquirer JDH for a EUR 5m profit, said reports at the time.
If no progress is reached, the ICG independent board is likely to ask the Irish Takeover Panel to intervene by putting into place a legally enforceable timetable whereby both sides submit final offers for the company in a closed auction process, it was suggested. It was said that the panel would be obliged to step in on the principal that a company’s business should not be ”interrupted for an unduly long period of time” during a takeover.
It is understood that neither Moonduster nor Aella intended to do anything by the 26 July, an unenforceable deadline imposed by the ICG board. Both sides are refusing to increase their offer, leading to a ”total break-down” of discussions from all sides, it was said.
“It is very difficult to see a way out of this at the present time,” it was said.
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