Barclays in talks with Moonduster group

BRITAIN’S BARCLAYS Bank is in talks with Eamonn Rothwell and the Philip Lynch-led Moonduster consortium about supporting their joint offer for listed ferry operator Irish Continental Group (ICG).

Barclays’ identity has not been revealed until now. Talks between the two sides are believed to have been initiated recently as Mr Rothwell and Moonduster strive to table an offer for ICG.

It is one of a syndicate of four banks – the others are AIB, Bank of Ireland and Bank of Scotland (Ireland) – being lined up to back a bid for ICG, which is expected to be pitched at up to €15 a share.

ICG’s independent directors yesterday requested that the Irish Takeover Panel impose a deadline for Moonduster and Mr Rothwell to submit a bid for the ferry business. This is a so-called “put up or shut up” deadline that is sometimes imposed in corporate takeovers.

ICG has been under offer since October and the company’s independent directors are thought to have become frustrated at a lack of progress in the offer process.

“On 18 March 2009, Moonduster’s advisers wrote to the independent directors providing an update on the status of the proposed offer and seeking an extension of the deadline,” they said in a statement to the stock exchange yesterday. “The details provided in the letter do not meet several of the criteria set by the independent directors and . . . did not include details of a proposed offer price. Therefore, the letter does not constitute a proposal which is capable of consideration.”

The directors, who are being advised by NCB Corporate Finance, said they remained “available to engage with Moonduster with a view to bringing forward an offer which is capable of both recommendation and execution within an acceptable timeframe set by the [takeover] panel”.

In October, Moonduster, which comprises Mr Lynch’s One51 investment group and the Cork-based shipping company, indicated that it intended to hold talks with other large shareholders to see if it could break the stalemate in the ownership and control of the ferry operator.

Moonduster subsequently teamed up with Mr Rothwell in December to consider a joint offer.

Moonduster owns 25 per cent of the stock while Mr Rothwell owns 16 per cent.