FINANCIER DERMOT DESMOND will more than double his shareholding in Independent News & Media the group announced today.
Desmond will increase his ownership from 6.4 per cent to 15 per cent as the company announced that it is to raise €40 million from investors.
INM’s largest shareholder Denis O’Brien will also participate in the capital raising exercise but will only do so to maintain his shareholding at 29.9 per cent.
The group say that the €40 million capital raise and and further debt paydown of €40 million will reduce the group’s core debt to to €118 million.
Shares in INM have jumped by 31 per cent on the Irish Stock Exchange since this morning’s announcement, increasing from 10 cents per share to just over 13 cents per share in early trading.
Dermot Desmond
Desmond is a prolific investor and first came to prominence as the founder of NCB Stockbrokers. He was one of the primary drivers behind the development of the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) in Dublin’s docklands.
Desmond’s private equity firm, International Investment and Underwriting (IIU), has invested in many prominent deals including London City Airport which was bought for €30 million in 1995 and sold for a reported €1.2 billion in 2006. Desmond is 831st on Forbes list of richest billionaires in the world.
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