LONDON IRISH head coach Toby Booth will be dealing with a virtually full deck when he selects his matchday squad to face Munster on Saturday in their Heineken Cup opener in Reading.

MORE than half of all Irish merger and acquisitions activity in 2006 took place in the final three months of the year.

LEADING figures of the four west Cork Co-ops met yesterday amid speculation that the Ion Equity bid of over €100m for SWS of Bandon had hit a snag.

Two companies, Ion Equity and One51, have placed bids for South Western Services. Ion boss Neil O’Leary talks to Chief Business Correspondent Brian O’Mahony about his vision for the future of fuels.

THE fate of South Western Services (SWS) will be known before Christmas. The sale process will be handled by Merrion Capital and all sides are committed to the sale this time.

SHELL’S network of Irish petrol stations and fuel distributors has been snapped up by venture capital group Ion Equity.

Landing on Romanian soil after nearly two months in captivity in Iraq, journalist Marie Jeanne Ion tugged off her yellow headscarf today and ran across the tarmac into her younger sister’s arms.

MERGERS and acquisition deals involving Irish companies soared in 2004 to €10.4 billion, up 33%.

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