Irish Press plc, owner of the defunct Irish Press group of newspapers, has settled a High Court action for damages against the US venture banker, Warburg Pincus, for an amount believed to be more than €6 million (£4.7 million).
The exact amount of the settlement was not made public, by agreement between the parties.
Afterwards, Mr Vincent Jennings, a director of Irish Press plc, said the board was very pleased with the satisfactory settlement of the proceedings and would shortly be communicating with the company's shareholders.
When announcing the settlement to Ms Justice Mella Carroll yesterday, Mr Colm Allen SC, for Irish Press plc, said it had been reported in the media that Warburg Pincus had been financial adviser to his clients. He was happy to acknowledge that this was not, and never had been, what the action had been about.
He said the issues between the parties had been resolved and the parties had put the terms of the settlement on paper. He asked for an order striking out the proceedings, with liberty to re-enter.
The action, had it gone on, was expected to have taken several months to hear. It involved a claim for an estimated €60 million. Irish Press plc had claimed it received representations from Warburg Pincus which resulted in the Irish Press group entering a joint-venture arrangement with companies owned by the American newspaperman, Mr Ralph Ingersoll.
The Irish company alleged that Warburg Pincus was fully aware and failed to disclose that the Ingersoll companies were in financial difficulties, unable to meet their commitments, experiencing serious management difficulties and in a state of imminent collapse.
Warburg Pincus denied the Irish Press plc claims.
In the early 1990s, Irish Press plc had sued the Ingersoll group of companies. It failed to receive damages but was allowed to resume control of the newspapers, which ceased publication in 1995.
