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Kingspan eyed deal, RTE Guide’s challenges and beware when the ‘B’ team is in charge

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

Ryan Tubridy performing the Late Late Toy Show: RTÉ's payments scandal has triggered a financial crisis at the broadcaster. Photograph: Alan Betson / THE IRISH TIMES

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Peter Flanagan
Mon Sep 11 2023 - 06:28

Kingspan sought a combination with US-based Carlisle, in what would have been a mega-merger in the building materials sector. Carlisle rebuffed Kingspan‘s informal approach, but signalled possible interest if the Cavan firm presented an improved offer.

Irish tech companies raised a record €963 million in funding from venture capital firms in the first half of the year, but the figures were heavily influenced by a small number of big deals while start-ups struggled to raise less than €1 million. Ciara O’Brien reports.

RTÉ has begun its preparations for the festive season by inviting brands to take out advertising space in this year’s Christmas RTÉ Guide amid “challenging” market conditions for the magazine. Laura Slattery reports.

The cost of sustainable goods is a deterrent for many people, with two in five people saying they have not bought sustainable goods in the past four weeks due to the price, a survey by Deloitte has found. Laura has the details.

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Laura also reports that technology consultancy firm Konversational has announced a new €3 million technology deal with IT solutions provider Ergo that promises to “radically transform” the latter’s customer service offering.

AIB executive Cathy Bryce has been named as the first woman to be president of industry lobby group the Banking & Payments Federation of Ireland.

Irish fintech firms have called for regulatory processes to be streamlined to trim costs for firms and for the Government to explore ways to support staffing in the sector in a difficult market. Ian Curran has the story.

In her column, Pilila Clarke looks at the perils of what can happen when a company’s top team are away from the office, while Mohamed El Erian questions if the Chinese economy will ever overtake the US.

Finally Enet chief technical officer John Gilvarry outlines why Ireland needs a much faster broadband network.

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