DOCUMENTS WHICH were lodged with the High Court to support Liam Carroll’s attempt to secure court protection for his Zoe property group shed some light on his 29.3 per cent holding in listed ferry operator Irish Continental Group (ICG).
“Management have advised that they believe in the long-term value of the ICG investment,” one document states.
Carroll received a €7.2 million dividend in 2009, which, according to the documents, is “sufficient to discharge the interest cost on the underlying loan facility”.
Carroll’s investment in ICG, funded by AIB, has increased by €13.1 million since June 30th last, the document adds. The “planned sale” of ICG shares earlier this year did not happen due to the “inability” of the potential acquirer – presumably a reference to the joint bid of Philip Lynch’s Moonduster and ICG boss Eamonn Rothwell – to complete the deal.
“But the expected dividends from holding the shares now provide additional income over and above the plan.”
Between them, Carroll’s investments in ICG, food group Greencore and house builder McInerney are expected to contribute just shy of €19 million in dividends from now until the end of July 2011. Carroll is believed to have borrowed more than €200 million from AIB to buy his ICG shares in 2007. This was a play on the property market, with ICG owning 33 acres in Dublin Port, which at the time was the subject of speculation about a relocation to Bremore, a planned port near Balbriggan.
His stake is now worth about €90 million. Even allowing for chunky dividends, the ICG investment will be under water for some time to come. That’s to say nothing of his holdings in Greencore and McInerney.
