McCanns’ 16% debt discount; beer industry falls flat; and banks avoid major losses

Business Today: the best news, analysis and comment from The Irish Times business desk

Balmoral International Land, the property company spun out of fruit distributor Fyffes and controlled by the wealthy McCann family, has secured a 16 per cent discount settling about €57 million of debt owed to US investment firm Cerberus, following a legal stand-off, writes Joe Brennan.

Mark Paul covers an industry report that says beer production in the Republic fell sharply last year, down 46 per cent on 2020, according to figures released by Ibec. The numbers employed in the sector also fell by a fifth.

AIB and Bank of Ireland are set to avoid multimillion pound losses on loans to UK convenience stores chain McColl's, Joe Brennan reports, after the retailer's wholesale partner, Morrisons, struck a deal over the weekend to take over the insolvent company.

AIB has also joined forces with Foresight Group, a UK-based sustainable infrastructure investment manager, to set up a €75 million fund to invest in equity in SMEs focused on accelerating Ireland's transition to a low-carbon economy.

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In the courts, the founder of a group that invests in the Aperee nursing homes has challenged two senior executive in the group who claim they control 40 per cent of the shares.

And a Russian oligarch and his company have been given until October to file their defence to a legal action in the Irish courts over an alleged €2 billion "corporate raiding" scheme to take over a Russian fertiliser giant.

Irish-based ecommerce company ESW, formerly known as eShopWorld, has agreed to acquire Los Angeles-based Scalefast for a sum understood to be in excess of €285 million in its first acquisition since it was acquired last year by Asendia. Ciara O'Brien has the details.

Rare-disease drug specialist Horizon Therapeutics has opened its new state-of-the-art global headquarters building on Stephen's Green in Dublin as it announced plans to add 100 jobs to its Irish workforce over the next 18 months.

Former solicitor Michael Lynn has said he was introduced to a process by bankers whereby the mortgage was not signed and no documents were lodged with the Land Registry at the time. He said this process, referred to in court as an "undertaking only" mortgage, "allowed lending to become quicker, more fluid".

Kerry Group has opened a new €38 million "taste facility" in KwaZulu-Natal, in South Africa, that it describes as "the largest and most advanced taste manufacturing facility" on the continent. Colin Gleeson reports.

In Personal Finance, Fiona Reddan goes through the timelines for customers of Ulster Bank and KBC to sort out the transfer of their various financial connections with the banks before they leave the market.

And in Q&A, we address reader queries on the tax due on share options and also how to make your charity giving go farther.

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Dominic Coyle

Dominic Coyle

Dominic Coyle is Deputy Business Editor of The Irish Times