THE BATTLE for Independent News & Media (INM) pits Anthony O'Reilly, long the dominant force in the company, against Denis O'Brien, the telecoms whizz whose fortune has enabled him to make serious inroads into the knight's empire.
At stake in the confrontation between these two billionaires is control of a powerful money-making machine that publishes the Irish Independent, the Sunday Independent, the Sunday World and the Evening Herald. That's not all. INM owns several Irish regional papers and has extensive interests in Britain, Australia, South Africa and India.
If neither man is short of ego, the battle between them long ago reached a level from which it would be difficult for either to retreat with any pride. Regarded as the great entrepreneurial success of O'Reilly's storied career in international business, INM has come under virtual siege from O'Brien since he started buying shares in the firm two years ago.
O'Brien owns 21.07 per cent of INM, valued at some €369 million. Having consolidated his position, O'Reilly has 27.22 per cent. His interest is worth some €477 million. If O'Brien's build-up of shares and his frequent attacks on INM suggest he will ultimately mount a bid to take outright control of the firm, stockbrokers say its current share price does not imply that a bid is imminent.
Yet there has no been no shortage of skirmishing. In recent times, INM has attacked O'Brien's credentials and accused him of trying to destabilise the company by spreading "misleading" information as he buys up shares. This was in response to a torrent of criticism from O'Brien in which he questioned the INM's strategy, governance and management. He also called for O'Reilly to retire. INM rejected each of his claims.
These two men come from different generations - O'Brien turns 50 next Saturday; O'Reilly will be 72 in May - but both have deployed ruthless commercial verve in their time. O'Reilly personally spent £1 million when he bought Independent Newspapers in the early 1970s and built up the organisation while running the Heinz Corporation in the US. Among other interests, he is the dominant shareholder in the loss-making Waterford Wedgwood.
O'Brien made his first fortune with the sale of Esat Telecom, the group that won the State's second mobile-phone licence. He made a second financial killing last year when he refinanced Digicel, a Caribbean mobile phone firm. His radio company Communicorp bought out Today FM last year.
