Davy, Ireland's leading stockbroker, which this week was acquired by its management for €316m (£211m), is close to finalising what it claims is the largest amount of equity ever raised from Irish investors in aprivate deal.

Davy has raised among its Irish clients nearly €200m of equity to support a $4.5bn reverse takeover of Houghton Mifflin, the private-equity financed Boston publisher, by Riverdeep, a smallish privately owned Irish e-learning company.