O’Brien’s Haiti hotel booking; Desmond hangs up his boots; lawyer’s fresh start; Eircom numbers shake-up
O'Brien checks in with Haiti hotel plan
HIS INVESTMENTS already range from telecoms and media to aircraft leasing and online recruitment. Now businessman Denis O’Brien is preparing to dip his toes into the leisure sector.
On Tuesday, O’Brien’s Digicel mobile phone company and the Marriott chain announced plans for a 173-bed hotel in Port-au- Prince, the capital of Haiti that was flattened by an earthquake last year.
It will cost $45 million (€33.4 million) to build.
The deal was facilitated by the Clinton Foundation. Former US president Bill Clinton said this week he had “encouraged” Digicel and Marriott to form the partnership.
“Their investment proves that Haiti is open for business and on the path to economic recovery,” Clinton added.
O’Brien has close links to the Clinton Foundation in Haiti.
Marriott will operate under a long-term management agreement with Unigestion Holding, a subsidiary of Digicel.
Construction is expected to begin next year with the opening slated for mid-2014.
Bill Marriott, chairman and chief executive of the hotel chain, certainly appears excited by the development, judging by his online blog.
Following the earthquake, Marriott sent a development team to Haiti to explore possible sites and potential local partners. “Among them was Digicel . . . who had recently entered the Haitian market,” Marriott said. “They needed hotel rooms to get business done and they were interested in being our partner.”
He added that the hotel would open up “a world of opportunity” for the people of Haiti.
“I know our Haitian associates in Florida are excited to train the new workers and get the hotel launched in 2014.”
With just 500 hotel rooms surviving the earthquake, the O’Brien/Marriott hotel will shake up the market when open.
Desmond to sell stake in Setanta Sports
TWO YEARS after helping to save Setanta Sports's Irish business, I'm told that concert promoter Denis Desmond is about to sell his holding in the business.
It seems that Mickey O'Rourke, a co-founder of the business in 1992, will acquire Desmond's 60 per cent stake.
O'Rourke is also buying the holdings of fellow founder Leonard Ryan and their long-time business associate, Mark O'Meara.
This will give O'Rourke 100 per cent ownership of Setanta, which ran into difficulties in 2009 when its UK business collapsed.
Setanta does not reveal its Irish subscriber numbers or trading figures but sources tell me that it is "close to break even".
It recently secured the Irish rights to show the PDC Darts world championship, to add to a portfolio that includes live English Premier League games, Formula One motor racing and GAA.
O'Rourke, Ryan and O'Meara continue to work together, through Danu Partners, an investment company based in Dublin that employs 15 staff here.
It co-owns International Sports Management with Chubby Chandler of golf fame and former WWE executive Shane McMahon. ISM numbers golfer Darren Clarke among its clients.
It also owns Servecalls, a call centre business in Mauritius and has stakes in Irish radio stations Newstalk and KLCR.
To complicate matters, Danu is also an investor in Setanta Sports businesses in Australia and Asia. These are separate entities from the Irish company, although they share certain facilities.
It's D-Day all over again for Eircom
IT'S D-DAY part two for Eircom today, with the independent directors awaiting proposals aimed at restructuring the company's massive debts.
The first deadline passed a fortnight ago without its shareholders, Singapore-based STT and the employee share-ownership trust, tabling a proposal. It is not clear if they will come to the party today or seek another extension.
The sticking point? Some say STT's bosses in Singapore are increasingly nervous about the euro zone crisis. Another view is that, with Denis O'Brien off the pitch, STT will take its own sweet time in framing a proposal, squeezing first-lien lenders for the best deal in the process.
In the background, Eircom continues to mark time while its competitors march on.
Just the man for Isle of Man job
IRISH LAWYER Francis Hackett sets off for the Isle of Man today, where he will be elected chairman of Trading Emissions plc, an AIM-listed entity, at its AGM.
The company is effectively in wind-down mode. Hackett will be one of four changes to the board and will be charged with maximising the return for shareholders from this so-called "controlled realisation" programme.
Speaking to me yesterday, Hackett described it as an "interesting challenge", probably of a 12- to 18-month duration.
Trading Emissions has a portfolio of carbon credits and private-equity investments, ranging from a wind farm in Poland to a biodiesel plant Brazil.
It has suffered from the sharp decline in carbon credit prices, which have been affected by the global financial crisis.
Trading Emissions was set up in 2005, raising £135 million (€157 million). It has since returned £78.5 million to investors in dividends but recent attempts to sell its portfolios failed to yield what the company felt was the right offer.
There is also some litigation in Brazil to be resolved, an area where Hackett – who is qualified in both Ireland and Australia – should bring his experience to bear.
LITTLE THINGS
ABU DHABI airline Etihad began its Irish recruitment drive in Dublin yesterday. Irishman Ray Gammell, who heads its HR, was expecting about 1,000 people to turn up. Etihad is looking to hire 100-plus staff from Ireland for a range of positions at the airline and will also be recruiting in Belfast and Cork in the new year.
Gammell said forward bookings are "good" in spite of the imminent entry of Dubai-based Emirates. But he declined to comment on reports linking it with the Government's 25 per cent stake in Aer Lingus.
"We're being associated with an airline a week at the moment. There's always a lot of speculation about us."
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DAVY HAS made some changes at its Focus Investments subsidiary. Seamus Murphy will now head the fund and has been joined there Cathal Kenny and Ronan O'Houlihan. Focus has about €100 million in funds under management.
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UNILEVER IRELAND has a new country manager. Jill Ross is to take charge of a portfolio that comprises top brands like HB ice cream, Lyons Tea and Persil. She replaces Conor Kilduff in the role.
