Boundary Capital cancels listings

BOUNDARY Capital is to cancel its listing on the Dublin and London stock exchanges because it says it is too expensive to maintain them.

The Dublin-based firm is also seeking shareholder approval to change its name to Fleming Capital.

In a statement yesterday the group said it still has not agreed an extension of its facility with Anglo Irish Bank, to whom it owes €39 million.

The collapse of Arnotts this week with debts of over €200m has left Boundary’s financial position significantly weakened. Earlier this year the investment group warned that its stake in Arnotts was likely to be worthless.

The group became a key player in the planned development in Arnotts when it teamed up with Anglo Irish Bank to make a joint €65m investment in the firm. That gave the two a 45% stake in the department store group.

The investment followed the O’Connor family decision to sell its 24.75% stake in Arnotts following a high-profile boardroom dispute with the family which resulted in the Nesbitts paying €40m for the holding.

The row came to a head in May 2006 when it emerged the O’Connors were preparing to offer to buy the group for a reported figure of €200m.

Following the sale, Arnotts put in place ambitious new plans to develop what was termed the Northern Quarter that was to stretch to O’Connell Street to become a dominant feature of the capital’s main street.

This plan was costed at €750m and included the redevelopment of a 5.5-acre block. Arnotts collapse has left Boundary’s financial position significantly weakened.

It owes Anglo Irish Bank more than €39m and is in talks with the bank.

Boundary is also proposing a change of name to Fleming Capital after agreeing with former chairman Niall McFadden that he would retain the Boundary name.

In late June, the group reported a pre-tax loss of €54.7m for last year, against a loss of €2.7m a year earlier, due to a fall in the value of its investments.

Its investments in Arnotts, CJ Fallon and ODC accounted for €35m of the investment losses, while revaluations of its stakes in quoted companies Veris and SiteServ led to a loss of over €6m, the company said at the time.