Irish Continental Group's (ICG) independent directors are to ask the Irish Takeover Panel to intervene in a bid to break the stalemate between the two sides bidding for the ferry company.
In a statement released late yesterday evening to the stock market, the independent directors said they will "now consult" with the Takeover Panel "to determine the most appropriate manner of seeking to resolve the current uncertainty" surrounding the listed company.
ICG is the subject of two €22-a-share bids. These have been submitted by Aella, a management buyout group led by chief executive Eamonn Rothwell, and Moonduster, a consortium comprised of the Philip Lynch-led One51 Capital and the Doyle shipping group in Cork.
Moonduster owns 20.38 per cent of ICG while Aella has an interest in 19.14 per cent of the company.
Both have informed the independent directors that they would block the other side's bid.
Aella and Moonduster are seeking to acquire ICG by way of a scheme of arrangement that requires High Court approval and needs the backing of 75 per cent of shareholders.
In an effort to break the logjam, the independent directors recently sought to impose a deadline on both sides to indicate how much they would be willing to pay to acquire ICG. This deadline expired at 5pm on July 30th, by which time neither side had responded to the request.
In its statement yesterday, the independent directors said the options include progressing with either the Aella or Moonduster bid or withdrawing from both.
The independent directors had initially recommended the Aealla bid in March but later withdrew this and recommended the Moonduster offer, which was lodged in June.
If the independent directors were to abandon either or both of the current bids for ICG, Aella and Moonduster would be precluded from announcing or making an offer for ICG for 12 months unless they received the consent of the Takeover Panel.
It is understood that the Takeover Panel could take a number of days to deliberate on the matter.
The independent directors said they also noted that a third party - believed to be property developer Liam Carroll - has acquire 11.4 per cent of ICG through contracts for differences (CFDs). Carroll is not obliged to declare his interest in the company as the shares are held as CFDs.
The independent directors closed their statement by noting that there was no guarantee that an offer with "an improved certainty of execution" would be forthcoming from the current process.
ICG has been in a takeover offer period since March 8th when Aella made its first bid for the company.
No comment was available from either Aella or Moonduster.
ICG's shares closed down 2.1 per cent or 50 cent in Dublin yesterday at €23.75.
