Teeling will not control Norish

ENTREPRENEUR John Teeling has ruled himself out of the running to take over publicly-quoted distribution group Norish, after the company said it had received an approach from a potential buyer yesterday.

Dr Teeling, whose interests include Cooley Distillery, Petrel Resources, Pan Andean Resources and African Diamonds, will not increase his stake from the 9% level he currently holds.

Norish, whose shares are traded in Dublin and London, told shareholders yesterday that it had received an approach that “may or may not lead to an offer being made for the company“.

The company said talks were still at an early stage and that further announcements would be made in due course. Sources close to the company expected little movement on a possible takeover for some time.

Norish will publish interim results for the six months to June later this week. The company, which specialises in operating temperature-controlled warehouses across Britain, retains the interest of Irish investors although it closed its last remaining Irish operations in 1996. It was originally formed as a joint venture between Norwegian and Irish investors. It set up its first warehouse in Castleblayney, Co Monaghan in 1975 and went public in 1986.

The company issued yesterday’s statement in response to sharp rises in its share price in recent days. Norish shares had traded between 75c and 80c for some time but surged as high as 88c before retreating to 85c yesterday. Company sources said the share price had seen relatively large swings but that the price changes had been driven by trades in small numbers of shares. The stock is seen as illiquid, with the result that the price can change quickly even in thin trading.

Norish is one of the smallest companies quoted in Dublin. It has a market capitalisation of less than 7 million and sees the bulk of trading carried out through London. Apart from Dr Teeling, its other major shareholder is investment company Standard Life.