Green chief heads fresh buyout of firm

GREEN PROPERTY chairman and chief executive Stephen Vernon has headed a fresh buyout of the company just two years after a €1 billion take-private deal.

Mr Vernon, together with other Green directors, bought out the stake previously held by investment banking giant Merrill Lynch to bring their combined stake up to 50%. Bank of Scotland, which held 49% of Green after financing the original deal, will hold the remaining 50%.

Mr Vernon said the deal was an “excellent outcome” for the company and would allow it in future to avail of investment opportunities where management’s skills could add value. It completed a programme of selling property assets more quickly than originally anticipated after it left the Dublin stock exchange on August 2002.