Shares in Real Estate Opportunities (REO) jumped by 13 per cent to 43.5p sterling in London yesterday after it emerged that Mr Noel Smyth has continued to add to his stake in the company.
Mr Smyth, who sold his stake in Dunloe Ewart for a profit of €30 million last year, now owns 10.29 per cent of REO after purchasing nearly 2.5 million shares, or 1.26 per cent of the company, on Friday.
Last week, Mr Smyth began acquiring shares in the company, which is more than one-third owned by Treasury Holdings.
REO was set up by Aberdeen Asset Management and Treasury Holdings, the property company run by Mr John Ronan and Mr Richard Barrett, as a split capital investment trust.
However, the collapse in value of its non-property assets has left it as a property play, with interests in both Britain and the Republic.
Its Irish property interests include a mix of retail, office and development sites. Among them are the Stillorgan shopping centre in Dublin, office blocks in Russell Court in Dublin and the Tedcastle site on Dublin's North Wall Quay.
Mr Smyth's stake building has fuelled speculation of corporate activity in the company.
Oracle extends PeopleSoft offer
Oracle said yesterday it extended its tender offer to acquire PeopleSoft in a $6.3 billion (€5.6 billion) hostile bid and said it remained "fully committed" to buying its smaller rival.
Oracle's extension of the tender offer is now set to expire on August 15th.
The extension came as PeopleSoft said federal antitrust regulators cleared the way for it to complete its $1.77 billion merger with smaller software maker J.D. Edwards. Oracle's tender offer was previously set to expire on July 18th. - (Reuters)
US attorney for competition board
The Tánaiste, Ms Harney, yesterday appointed US attorney Mr Edward Henneberry as a member of the Competition Authority, where he will be director of the mergers division.
The appointment is part of the authority's new responsibility to review mergers of companies under the Competition Act 2002.
Mr Henneberry is a partner in a Washington DC law firm and specialises in private antitrust litigation, mergers and joint ventures. He is due to take up his post on September 15th.
African Diamonds stock starts trading
African Diamonds, the exploration company run by Dr John Teeling, began trading on London's Alternative Investment Market yesterday.
The shares in the company, which were placed at 7p sterling, opened at a slight premium of 8.25p. The company raised £800,000 (€115,000) from the placing, which was oversubscribed.
Trinity Biotech raises $20m
Dublin and New York-listed Trinity Biotech is poised to begin seeking further acquisitions after raising $20 million (€17.7 million) in debt finance from three US institutions.
Trinity, which has its headquarters in Co Wicklow, specialises in products used to diagnose a range of infectious diseases, sexually transmitted diseases, blood disorders and auto-immune diseases.
It said it had placed $20 million in convertible loan notes with three American lenders, led by New York-based Highbridge Capital Management.
The investors can opt at any time to convert the notes into Trinity stock at a fixed conversion price of $3.55. The notes have a final maturity date of January 1st, 2007, and the interest will be 3 per cent a year. Trinity is obliged to repay the principal in 10 instalments.
