Three leading figures from the food group IAWS are directors of a company which has emerged as a significant investor in the new Cork-based airline Jetmagic.
Mr Philip Lynch, Mr James Moloney and Mr David Martin are directors of the company Remedios Ltd which has taken a stake in Jetmagic. The same company recently featured as a shareholder in the now defunct, Dublin Evening newspaper.
According to documents lodged with the Companies Office, the owners of Remedios are the Irish Agricultural Wholesale Society (IAWS) and Mr Martin himself. However, a spokesman for IAWS stressed that Remedios was not part of IAWS Group plc.
Remedios does not publish separate accounts and the only accounts supplied are for Irish Agricultural Wholesale Society. According to the Companies Office, the society guarantees all the liabilities relating to Remedios.
Mr Lynch is the group managing director of IAWS Group plc, Mr Moloney is non-executive chairman of the same company and Mr Martin is its group financial director.
Mr Lynch holds a string of directorships, including a seat on the board of Heitons plc, the builder's merchant group.
Remedios took a small stake in the Dublin Evening (formerly Dublin Daily) newspaper, although that investment has now been lost due to it's closure last week with a loss of about 50 jobs.
A creditors meeting is due to take place on Monday July 21st in Dublin.
The Remedios investment is believed to represent about 7 per cent of Jetmagic, with several other shareholders holding larger stakes, most notably Foco Developments Ltd, a Cork-based property company, which is believed to hold one of the largest stakes.
Another Jetmagic shareholder is Mr Alex McCarthy, from Limerick, who has a long association with the radio business.
It is understood Remedios was approached about making an investment several months ago. It is believed between 40 and 50 groupings were approached by the original shareholders. One of those who invested was the former Aer Lingus chief executive Mr Michael Foley, who has a small stake in the venture and is also a director.
A large number of the shareholders are based in Cork or Munster. They include the property company Templefort Ltd and members of the Punch family, who are involved in manufacturing and distributing household and shoe care products. A company called Matador Investments Ltd holds their share.
The company's managing director Mr Patrick Raftery is also listed as a shareholder.
The airline hopes to be serving 14 routes by the end of the year out of Cork. At present, because of a maintenance programme, Cimber Air is operating on behalf of Jetmagic on some routes.
The company is in its first year of operation and has yet to publish accounts.
