THE IRISH Takeover Panel has received a letter from an adviser to leading property developer Liam Carroll alleging that certain share dealings in Irish Continental Group by other groups could be in breach of takeover rules.
The letter alleges a link between the Philip Lynch-led Moonduster consortium and the Irish-backed Arkaga investment fund - both of which are shareholders in ICG. This could land both parties in hot water with stock market regulators.
The letter, sent two weeks ago and seen by The Irish Times, details a meeting recently between Kevin Beary, managing director of Dolmen Corporate Finance and an adviser to Carroll, and a director of Arkaga, an Irish-backed investment fund that bought shares in ICG last year.
Mr Beary states that the Arkaga director told him that the fund had acquired shares in ICG last year through a vehicle called Buchannon Holdings.
Mr Beary claims that the Arkaga director told him that the fund was involved in assisting the Moonduster Consortium in its bid for the ferry company, something that should have been declared to the stock market.
Moonduster comprises the One51 investment group and the Cork-based Doyle Shipping company.
It owns 25 per cent of ICG and failed last year in a bid for the ferry operator.
If this information is shown to be correct Arkaga and Moonduster would be classified as concert parties, something that is supposed to be declared to the stock exchange.
This would put both groups in breach of Rule Nine of the takeover code, and could lead to a heavy sanction for the Moonduster consortium.
Neither Arkaga nor Moonduster has declared any such link.
Moonduster was censured by the takeover panel last October in relation to its purchase of shares from a group called Octavian.
The panel said this agreement broke a number of stock exchange rules.
A second breach is likely to be viewed very seriously by the takeover panel.
In his letter to the panel's chief executive Michael Ryan, Mr Beary said he had taken the Arkaga director at face value and had made no attempt to verify the information.
He also stated that he had not discussed it with Mr Carroll.
It is understood that the Irish Takeover Panel has contacted Mr Beary and Arkaga to establish the veracity of the contents of the letter.
Calls to Mr Ryan this week were not returned.
Moonduster declined to comment on the matter, while calls made to Arkaga and two of its directors were not returned.
ICG became a takeover target in March 2007 when a bid led by Eamonn Rothwell, the ferry group's chief executive, was lodged. Mr Rothwell's Aella consortium owns 16 per cent of ICG.
Mr Carroll owns 29 per cent of ICG and is its biggest shareholder. He has yet to make an offer for the ferry business.
Arkaga recently reduced its stake in ICG from more than 5 per cent to 1.4 per cent, taking a €12 million hit in the process. It was founded by Irishman Gerard Walsh and has its head office in London.
