Don't be surprised to see Ted O'Neill finally reverse his Imari transport group into Seafield after Imari went into the market last week and snapped up a 5.4 per cent of the British-based but Irish-listed Seafield.

Seafield has been one of the market's living dead for years and longsuffering shareholders would undoubtedly relish being put out their misery.

But any Seafield shareholders thinking that they are going to get a bundle of cash from Imari can think again. The odds are that they will at best be offered shares in a merged Imari-Seafield public company with little prospect that the Irish transport company will offer a cash alternative.

Imari had done well as a private company since it was set up by Ted O'Neill 12 years ago, but with ACT having put two chunks of venture capital, ICC another chunk and Bernard Somers also having put in some money, the indications are that Seafield will be the handy mechanism for a market value to be put on these investments.

As well as the listing, taking over Seafield in a paper deal would also give Imari additional warehousing operations in Britain to add to its existing business.

Needless to say, the official line from Imari is that the Seafield investment is just that - an investment. If one believes that, one would have to believe that Ted O'Neill and his venture capital backers have ploughed in the best part of £500,000 for a small stake in a company which has been an investment disaster for ages.

That doesn't seem likely - this investment has been made for a purpose. Remember, Imari and Seafield flirted with the idea of a merger five years ago.