Cooley spirits in pitch to Liverpool; Tesco says fewer shoppers going North; Eircom challenges; call for ‘budding entrepreneurs’
Shot of Liverpool FC, anyone?
RUGBY IS more John Teeling’s sport than soccer but he’s not one to turn down a business opportunity, which is why his Cooley spirits company has pitched to provide Liverpool football club with an own-label whiskey.
Talks are said to be at an “early stage” with the debt-laden Merseyside club, which hasn’t won the English league title since 1990.
Cooley is no stranger to own- brand whiskey, producing a spirit for the University of Notre Dame in the past. It also provides products for a number of big supermarket groups, including Dunnes Stores, Tesco, France’s Carrefour and German discounters Aldi and Lidl.
Cooley was recently named as Distiller of the Year by John Hansell of Malt Advocate magazine, a leading voice on whiskey in the United States, where sales of Irish whiskey have exploded in recent years. It’s not clear what tipple Liverpool’s US owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, enjoy but, given the way Liverpool have performed this season, a shot or two of whiskey from the Cooley mountains might help numb the pain.
STT with Eircom 'for the long haul'
EIRCOM CHIEF executive Paul Donovan and STT board representative Terry Clontz had their first formal outing with the media yesterday to outline how they see the business moving forward.
Eircom is not without its challenges. Competitors are starting to snap at its heels in the fixed-line business while its mobile arm, Meteor, is under pressure as foreign nationals return home and teenagers cut back on spending.
The company also needs to invest hundreds of millions of euros into its network and restructure its near €4 billion debt.
Clontz was keen to stress that Singapore- based STT was here for the long haul as a strategic investor.
He highlighted how the company took New Jersey-based telco Global Crossing out of bankruptcy seven years ago. It remained the majority investor in the business, which was now “Ebitda positive”.
Donovan, meanwhile, was keen to stress the need to drive further efficiencies as its cost base “is too high”. He also wants to open up its network to other operators.
“We recognise that in the future we’re going to need to be much more open to wholesale business,” he said.
“The provision of wholesale is a more important part of the strategy than in the past. It’s likely to generate higher revenues and better returns.”
The pair were also keen to push the idea of a collaborative approach within the industry to upgrading the creaking telecoms infrastructure in this country and provide a fibre network for fast broadband access and the provision of other technologies.
“There’s a limited capital pool available in Ireland,” Donovan said.
Clontz gave the example of how the Singapore government chipped in Singapore $1 billion (€518 million) to help with the roll-out of a fibre network in the island state.
Donovan and Clontz were not advocating that the cash-strapped Irish Government should do the same here, but they said it made no sense for Eircom and its rivals to spend billions on rival networks covering the same areas.
They have a point, although there needs to be clarity as to who will own the network and how it would be regulated if consumers are to benefit.
Travelport's flotation plan delayed
IT WAS a case of so near and yet so far for Travelport and its Irish chairman- designate, Dermot Gleeson, this week as it postponed its initial public offering (IPO).
The travel group’s flotation was to have been the biggest in the UK for two years, but was placed on ice due to poor investor appetite and market volatility.
Travelport, which has also put plans to relocate its head office to Dublin on hold, hoped to price shares in the range of £2.10 to £2.90, valuing it at up to £2.16 billion.
So what of Gleeson’s position? The former AIB chairman was appointed on January 19th along with ex-AIB finance chief Gary Kennedy.
Gleeson is not a shareholder, but an attractive remuneration package was put together for him, including share options.
Travelport said: “Dermot and other board members will remain engaged and are ready to serve when we decide markets are ready for an IPO.”
It could be a long wait.
Little things
CATHAL MAGEE (right) takes his leave of Eircom today after 15 years with the company.
The head of Eircom’s retail arm spent six months as acting chief executive last year before losing out to Paul Donovan in the race for the top job. Having missed out on the hot seat and with Singapore-based STT having recently taken ownership of Eircom, Magee was always likely to move on. At 56, and in the current economic climate, it might be seen as a brave move.
Not that Magee should be short of offers.
As acting CEO last year, he put the wheels in motion for a major restructuring of Eircom’s cost base and helped to scuttle Australian financier Rob Topfer’s attempt to capture the business on the cheap and make a second turn on Eircom.
Magee has one final function to perform – the traditional going-away knees up, which I hear is being held tonight in Foley’s pub on Merrion Row. Singapore Slings all round, bartender.
The Synergy Centre at the Institute of Technology in Tallaght is looking for “budding entrepreneurs” to participate in its “Enterprise Platform Programme”, which is funded by the National Development Plan.
This will offer a 12-month, full-time course for those in the early stages of setting up a technology-based business.
It will cover business development and planning, human resources, legal issues innovation and sales. Applications close later this month.
