SMURFIT Venture Investments Ltd has acquired a 30 per cent stake for £500,000 in Spectel Group Ltd, a wholly-owned Irish company based in Sandyford, Co Dublin, which designs, manufactures and markets ISDN-based digital conferencing systems.

The £500,000 forms part of a £1 million investment programme. The company has sold its Confertel 2000 product in Europe and South East Asia and recently opened a sales office in London. Spectel employs 30 people, 15 in an R&D laboratory. Smurfit Venture Investments is a joint venture between Jefferson Smurfit Group plc and Forbairt. The venture makes investments in growth-orientated Irish-owned technology companies.