Aldi to expand in Ireland with 20 new stores

Aldi, according to the Sunday Independent is about to invest €100 million in Ireland over the next three years as it seeks to expand its presence here.

The company aims to add around 20 new stores which will create about 400 jobs.

According to the Sunday Business Post the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer has warned that a major stand-off with unions over pension arrangements could force it to put a freeze on recruitment in Ireland.

The company has warned that it may not recruit further staff if it has to include them in a defined benefit scheme.

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Arytza

Elsewhere in the Post it is reported that incoming Arytza chairman Garry McGann is expected to to meet the food company's investors in a move to shore up confidence in the business.

The hiring of McGann is part of an attempt by the Irish-Swiss food company to improve its image after a fall in the company’s share price, sales and concerns about its future strategy.

The Sunday Times reports that Origin Capital, a Dublin non-bank lender, has signed a funding deal with Morgan Stanley to offer finance to the Irish commercial property market,

The partnership with one of the world's largest investment banks is expected to target the refinancing of the tens of billions' worth of commercial property loans purchased by investment funds such as Cerberus and Lone Star form Irish banks and Nama.

Pensions

Pension funds and other private investors, the Times says, will be offered State-backed rents linked to the rate of inflation to encourage them to buy the homes of up to 10,000 borrowers with unsustainable debts.

The incentive is part of a package of planned reforms aimed at tackling the mortgage crisis by allowing more distressed borrowers to surrender ownership but remain in their homes as social housing tenants under the State’s mortgage-to-rent scheme.

According to the Sunday Telegraph, Sports Direct is hoping to soothe simmering tensions with the City by beefing up its board amid the chain's worst results in four years.

The sportswear retailer has been attempting to repair its battered reputation by improving corporate governance following a pledge to make the business more transparent.