The chief executive of Anglo-Irish Bank and a director of the CBT Group have invested in Drury Sports Management, the sporting events management and marketing company set up by Mr Fintan Drury.
Mr Sean Fitzpatrick and Mr John Fortune became non-executive directors of the company in January. The size of the stake purchased by the two businessmen is not known, nor the amount involved in the purchase of the shares, which came by way of a re-allotment of the existing shareholding.
The company, which trades under the name DSM International, was founded in 1991 and is the Irish market leader in sports marketing and management. The investment comes as the company focuses on developing more international business.
DSM International organises four out of the five professional golf tournaments run in Ireland and has the exclusive marketing contract for the Ryder Cup in 2005. It recently organised the Smurfit European Open at the K Club in Co Kildare.
It advises organisations that have the exclusive rights to sporting events on all commercial dimensions to those events.
Apart from Mr Drury, Mr Fitzpatrick and Mr Fortune, the other directors of the company are Mr Paul Holland (chief executive); Mr David Kennedy, a company director and the former chief executive of Aer Lingus; Mr Hugh McCutcheon, of Davy Corporate Finance; Mr Billy Murphy, a communications executive with Drury Communications: and Mr Paul McDowell, a solicitor.
The list of directorships supplied to the Companies Office by Mr Fitzpatrick shows him as a director of 40 companies, including Anglo Irish Bank Corporation plc and Ansbacher Bankers Ltd. The list supplied by Mr Fortune shows him as a director of CBT Group plc, Dunloe Ireland Ltd, and ProActive Sports Managements (Ireland) Ltd.
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