Shares fall after bank’s move

ULSTER BANK has taken control of 15.9% of the shares in Greencore, the Irish food company worth €41 million at today’s prices.

Greencore’s shares fell 5.9% to €1.27 in Dublin yesterday.

The Ulster Bank statement said a Greencore Group investor who owns 15.9% of the company’s shares cannot make decisions on its voting rights without getting written instructions from Ulster Bank.

The shareholder has not been identified and neither Ulster nor Greencore would make any comment last night on this latest development in the Liam Carroll saga.

Mr Carroll has built a 29% stake in Greencore at a total cost of €220m of which €170m went to financier Dermot Desmond for his 20% plus holding in the convenience food group.

An Ulster Bank source said “it was unusual for the bank to acquire control of holdings in another publicly quoted company”.

The move by Ulster Bank puts further pressure on the troubled property developer, with outstanding debts of €1.2bn.

The Supreme Court last week refused to grant protection to six companies controlled by Mr Carroll against a bank petition to wind them up and recoup loans worth just €136 million of the €1.2bn owed in this instance by the group.

That action was taken by ACCBank.