Meta job cuts, Altada’s loan terms, and Glen Dimplex nets €185m from Morphy Richards sale

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


Staff at the Irish operation of Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, are bracing for bad news on their jobs, after chief executive Mark Zuckerberg announced a new round of lay-offs that will see 10,000 people leave the group, Ciara O’Brien reports.

The directors of collapsed artificial intelligence company Altada Technology Solutions were told to seek independent legal advice over a €500,000 loan to the company to which “exorbitant and punishing” terms were attached, according to an affidavit filed by its liquidator in the High Court this week. Ian Curran has the details.

Glen Dimplex, an electrical goods company owned by the Louth-based Naughton family, made $198 million (€185m) from the sale of its Morphy Richards home appliances brand to a Chinese acquirer, a stock market filing reveals. Joe Brennan reports.

In a move that could impact more than 6,000 staff at its European regional operation in Cork, Apple is delaying bonuses for some corporate divisions and expanding a cost-cutting effort, joining Silicon Valley peers in trying to streamline operations during uncertain times. Bloomberg has the story.

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Irish real estate investor Mel Sutcliffe’s Quanta Capital has invested all €300 million of the money it allocated in May of last year to its sale-and-leaseback fund. The fund will now receive an additional allocation of €50 million for the purpose of making further acquisitions in the second quarter. Ronald Quinlan has the details.

Having served as the home of the much-loved gourmet grocer and deli Listons for more than 20 years, Number 25 Lower Camden Street in Dublin city centre is being offered to the market with the benefit of full vacant possession by Turley Property Advisors at a guide price of €925,000, writes Ronald Quinlan.

The Irish advertising market will grow 3.8 per cent to €1.43 billion this year, but advertisers’ spending levels will once again be volatile and short-term in nature, marketing group Core has forecast. Laura Slattery has the story.

The sale of 28 high-end apartments in Dublin’s south docklands, known as the Grand Canal Dock portfolio, is being offered to the market on behalf of a private investor by agent Colliers at a guide price of €18.25 million, or an average of €651,785 per unit. Ronald Quinlan reports.

The fall of Silicon Valley Bank shows there are few libertarians in a financial foxhole, even among the technology sector, writes FT columnist John Thornhill.

Minaun Capital, a property investment vehicle established by the founder of online auction specialist BidX1, Stephen McCarthy, has acquired the Wellpark Retail and Leisure Centre in Galway in an off-market transaction for €20.5 million. Ronald Quinlan has the details.

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