Investors from around the globe who have stakes in the immersive software engineering programme of the University of Limerick (UL) have shown concern after a controversy regarding a €5.2 million expenditure in student accommodation by the university. These investors involve major multinational firms like Amazon Web Services, Stripe, Intercom, Boston Scientific, and others. They expressed uncertainty regarding their investment after disagreements arose surrounding the purchase of 20 student houses. Professor Stephen Kinsella, an economist, stated that he had to reassure multiple major investors amidst the controversy. This issue followed a previous scandal where the university excessively paid €8.3 million for the previous Dunnes Stores site in Limerick city centre in 2019.
In other news, estate agency DNG is set to enter the mortgage broker business with the ambition of facilitating €300 million in lending each year within half a decade. The new venture, DNG Financial Services, just received a license from the Central Bank of Ireland to start its operations. This new business addition aims to offer financial advice and pension consulting to clients, and will be operational in the upcoming weeks, with Cian Carolan, the ex-head of mortgages at Finance One at the helm.
Quanta Capital, a Dublin-based investment fund, is interested in assets from the collapsed Signa portfolio, an Austrian real-estate group that co-owned Brown Thomas/Arnotts. Mel Sutcliffe, an Irish real estate investor who owns Quanta Capital, plans to acquire up to €2 billion worth of Signa Prime’s assets, a main company under the Signa group, through its wing, Goldstein ICAV.
The Austrian business tycoon Rene Benko, who, as a co-founder of Signa, owns opulent retail outlets like Selfridges in London and both Brown Thomas and Arnotts in Dublin, announced bankruptcy in November. The company’s assets also comprise of the renowned department store, KaDeWe in Berlin, and the exquisite Park Hyatt Hotel in Vienna, bundled under Signa Prime. Nevertheless, Quanta’s intentions concerning Signa are confined exclusively to its European holdings, including Park Hyatt, without any inclination towards the retail portfolio section.
In unrelated events, Virgin Media’s appeal for a €30 million subsidy for its public service broadcast was turned down by Catherine Martin, the Minister for various factions including Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport, and Media. This refusal was underscored in the Sunday Times which cited a letter from Virgin Media’s managing director Áine Ní Chaoindealbháin to Minister Martin requesting a €30 million aid for subsidising the news and current affairs programming. Emphasising that state has never offered Virgin Media any direct monetary aid, Ní Chaoindealbháin stated that the media conglomerate’s sole income stems from ad sales as the firm delivers public service broadcast in line with its licensing contract. This development was subsequently reported by the Business Post and the Sunday Independent as well.