Seen & Heard: Mater Private in play and Heineken Light

Oil and gas company Aminex expresses interest in Petroceltic’s Egyptian assets

Dutch brewing giant Heineken, according to the Sunday Independent, has picked Ireland as one of the first European countries to get Heineken Light.
Dutch brewing giant Heineken, according to the Sunday Independent, has picked Ireland as one of the first European countries to get Heineken Light.

The Sunday Business Post reports that Firesensius, the €34 billion German healthcare giant, is on the cusp of sealing a deal to buy the Mater Private healthcare group form majority owner CapVest its management and staff.

Fresensius, a publicly quoted firm with almost 70,000 staff, is set to pay in the region of €500 million for the group.

The Post also reports that the Irish wind farm developer backed by the multibillion-dollar US hedge fund Hudson Clean Energy Partners has closed a deal for a €160 million wind farm development in Kerry.

Recent filings in the Companies Office show that Element has taken control of a special purpose vehicle used to control the Cordal wind farm development, which was previously owned by domestic developer Saorgus.

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Larry Goodman, according to the Post, is considering selling the Setanta Centre, a prime piece of Dublin real estate.

The Post says a source has told them that the Hardwicke Group, chaired by businessman Mark Kavanagh has had early discussions with Mr Goodman over the sale of the building but that both sides declined to comment.

The Sunday Independent reports that Irish oil and gas company Aminex has expressed interest in Petroceltic's Egyptian assets.

According to the Independent Aminex, which recently began pumping gas at a Tanzanian projects closely monitoring developments at Petroceltic , which is currently in examinership. Aminex already has an interest in a block in Egypt and has previously flagged an interest in expanding its business across Africa.

Dutch brewing giant Heineken, according to the Independent, has picked Ireland as one of the first European countries to get Heineken Light.

It is the latest addition to its range which includes Murphy's, Beamish and Coors light among others.

Irish ad agency Rothco has been chosen to develop a global advertising campaign for the new brand. The beer, with a lower alcohol content that regular Heineken, is already on sale in the US.

The new owner of the former Quinn Group cement and packaging business has refinanced a chunk of its debt just over a year after buying the companies for €83 million, the Sunday Times reports.

Quinn Industrial Holdings, which is run by a local management team and backed by American lenders, has lined up new borrowing from PNC Financial Services UK, which specialises in asset backed loans to mid-market companies.

The Times also reports that Dublin-based Ion Equity has netted about €15 million profit from the sale of Ocean Media, a UK publishing and events business - its second windfall from buying and selling the company.

Ocean has been bought by the private equity group Lonsdale Capital Partners and company management in a deal understood to be worth about €25 million

A small group of Irish investors, led by Ion partner Ulric Kenny, acquired Ocean in January, 2012, for about €30 million.