Eason opens books for more investment

The book retailer Eason hired IBI Corporate Finance advisers earlier this year to sound out potential investors, writes Linda Daly.

The Sunday Times understands an investment memorandum was distributed to interested parties, but a formal sale process is not thought to have begun.

The Irish Times reported in September that Eason had written to shareholders advising them it would pay a €4 million dividend from its profits this year, and would spend €10 million on a share buyback scheme.

Eason is owned by 230 shareholders, the biggest of whom include the Eason family and the Brabazons, whose late father Kevin was a former managing director and chairman. Sharon McCabe, chief executive of McCabes Pharmacy, also has a small shareholding.

The company was valued at €76 million by Mazars last year. Eason, which is chaired by David Dilger, the former chief executive of Greencore, has 38 stores and 16 franchise outlets. It also owns Dubray Books, which has 15 stores.

Accounts show Eason Retail plc had a turnover of €123 million in the year to January 28, 2024. Its ebitda (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) was €8.4 million. A note in the accounts said the government introduction of free schoolbooks had “effectively closed off that important seasonal business for book retailers, with direct sales from schoolbook publishers capturing the majority of the market”.

Election thwarts AIB share sale plan

The finance minister Jack Chambers is likely to postpone the next major sale of the government’s shares in AIB until at least January due continued uncertainty over the general election date, writes Jon Ihle.

Sources said there would be “no window” for Chambers to make a decision on a share placing after the bank’s third-quarter trading update on November 4 if Simon Harris called an election in late November or early December.

Potential disruption from the outcome of the US election on November 5 could also be a factor, leaving little leeway for a transaction this year. It was widely expected in markets, prior to the recent speculation about the general election, that the state would sell another 5 per cent tranche of AIB this year.

“If there is a November election, they won’t be going to market,” Diarmaid Sheridan, a banking analyst at Davy, said. “If you want to do something this year, it has to be done in November.”

Missing the opportunity to divest more of the bank it nationalised in 2011 will deprive the government of a major cash windfall — €565 million at the current share prices — before going to the polls and leaving the decision hostage to the next government.

However, if the current government is returned in some form, the sell-down in AIB shares could be complete by the middle of next year, assuming favourable market conditions — a view consistent with Colin Hunt, the bank’s chief executive, who believes it will be fully privatised in 2025. Sheridan said there would be potentially two accelerated bookbuilds in the first half, as well as a large directed buyback after annual results in March. He also expected the government to extend its AIB share trading plan beyond January next year.

The plan now has a reduced lock-up of 30 days, meaning the government could dispose of the 21 per cent of the bank it owns in six months if a placing were to take place in January.

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