A round-up of today's other stories in brief
South Wharf calls for egm in December
South Wharf, which earlier this month confirmed the sale of the former Ringsend glassmaking plant in Dublin to a consortium led by property developer Bernard McNamara for €412 million, has called an extraordinary general meeting on December 14th.
The company said yesterday that details of the proposal had been sent to shareholders and that the scheme document was available for inspection at the group's offices in Ringsend and at the stock exchange.
Rising costs drive up concrete price
Rising energy, transport and cement costs are likely to drive up the price of concrete, one of the most commonly used materials in the Republic's building boom, an industry figure warned yesterday.
John Maguire, chief executive of the Irish Concrete Federation (ICF), said that a 30 per cent rise in electricity costs and a 10 to 12 per cent increase in cement charges would drive up the price of concrete.
"The issue of rising energy costs is one of the main factors. The concrete industry and indeed the entire manufacturing sector in this country cannot continue to absorb high costs for energy," he said.
Smart doubles price on AIM
Smart Telecom's price doubled to 0.625 of one penny yesterday after heavy trading in the stock on London's Alternative Investment Market (AIM) yesterday.
Smart opened at 0.295 of a penny but hit a high of 0.9 before coming back to close at 0.625. This was an increase of 0.33 of a penny or 108 per cent.
Lone Star may quit Korea deal
Lone Star, a US buyout fund, is close to terminating its contract to sell Korea Exchange Bank to Kookmin, scuppering a $7.4 billion (€5.76 billion) deal, because prosecutors' investigations have brought talks to a standstill and made the bank almost impossible to sell.
The withdrawal, expected to be finalised in the next few days, underlines the private equity fund's frustration with the investigation into the way it bought the failing bank three years ago.
Korean authorities have issued arrest warrants for two of its American executives and on Monday filed charges of stock manipulation against both Lone Star and KEB. - (Financial Times service)
HBO considers broadband channel
HBO, the US cable network owned by Time Warner, is considering a new broadband internet channel that would be available to customers who also subscribe to its cable TV service.
Chris Albrecht, HBO's chief executive, said the company was talking to cable operators about an "HBO-like service" in which broadband customers could click on a branded menu and download the network's programming. However, he stressed that any internet offerings would be launched in partnership with cable operators, which it relies on for subscriber fees. - (Financial Times service)
Buyout to spawn large debt package
The $36 billion (€28 billion) buyout of Equity Office Properties by US private equity group Blackstone is set to spawn the largest debt package on record for a leveraged buyout transaction.
More than 80 per cent of the deal - almost $30 billion - will be financed in the debt markets, with Goldman Sachs, Bear Stearns and Bank of America providing commitments. - (Financial Times service)
