A round-up of today's other stories in brief

Prem buys two hotels in Belgium

Prem Group, the Irish hotel management company, has bought two hotels in Antwerp in Belgium for €16 million.

They are the group's first acquisitions outside Britain and Ireland, bringing to 12 the number of hotels Prem has opened this year, and are part of its European expansion programme.

Prem said it planned to invest €100 million on further acquisitions in major European cities.

Earlier this year, the group announced the creation of 250 jobs in Ireland and 50 jobs in Britain and a further 300 jobs in 2007 as part of a €400 million investment programme.

Taylor Asset court case adjourned

The High Court has further adjourned proceedings in which the liquidator of finance company Taylor Asset Managers, which collapsed in 1996, has applied to restrict five of its directors, including the television personality Eddie Hobbs.

The proceedings were briefly mentioned before Ms Justice Mary Finlay Geoghegan yesterday and were adjourned to December 11th.

Liquidator Paddy McSwiney is obliged to make such an application, which is procedural, even if he believes some directors acted fairly and honestly.

The five respondent directors are Tony and Shirley Taylor, Tom Carroll, Tom Lynch and Mr Hobbs.

Ormonde reckons zinc increase

Exploration group Ormonde Mining has reported a significant increase in the zinc thought to be in the massive sulphide unit at its La Zarza project in southwest Spain.

Ormonde has a 70 per cent stake in the project. The new findings estimate the mine contains 2.9 million tonnes of zinc, in addition to further quantities of copper, silver and gold.

Minco says Pallas cluster possible

Metals explorer Minco says that new drilling at its Pallas Green project in Co Limerick has opened up the possibility that the three high-grade prospects found so far may be part of a major cluster of massive sulphide bodies.

Terence McKillen, Minco's director of exploration business development, said significant potential was indicated for discovery of additional zinc and lead occurrences.

Deloitte warning on new markets

Deloitte has warned about the danger of investing in emerging markets.

A survey of executives from 100 top European infrastructure companies found that 21 per cent did not believe that dependance on political connections or on bribes would be a deal killer.

However, Deloitte warned that investors could be exposing themselves to financial or reputational risk.

Viridian takeover supported

More than 98 per cent of shares in Viridian have been voted in support of the takeover of the company by Bahrain-based Arcapita. Fewer than 2,500 Viridian shareholders opposed the deal at an egm yesterday in Belfast.

The takeover is worth €2.3 billion. Both companies are hoping to have the takeover completed by mid- December, although this is subject to change. Each shareholder is being offered £13.36 (€19.70) a share.

Furlong appointed at First Active

First Active has appointed Colm Furlong as its managing director. Mr Furlong will have responsibility for First Active's mortgage, savings and investment operations in Ireland.

Mr Furlong previously worked in a number of senior positions in First Active's parent, Ulster Bank.

Campbell to lead African Diamonds

AIM-listed African Diamonds has named James Campbell, a former general manager at mining giant De Beers, as its new managing director.

Mr Campbell (42) will take up the position from the start of next month.

Elan raises size of note offering

Irish pharmaceutical group Elan yesterday raised the size of its senior note offering to $615 million (€480 million), from $599 million (€467 million).

The offering will comprise $465 million (€363 million) of 8.875 per cent in senior fixed notes due in 2013 and $150 million (€117 million) in floating rate notes also due in 2013.