Independent board repeats support for Irish Continental buy by Bluefin
The independent board of Irish Continental Group PLC on Tuesday reiterated its support for the takeover of Irish Continental by Bluefin Bidco, a day after the latter said it will not raise its offer.
Bluefin's cash offer values the Dublin-based ferry operator at EUR1.2 billion, or EUR8.00 per share, a 28% premium to its EUR6.24 closing share price on July 24, the day Bluefin made its offer.
Irish Continental's independent board recommended that shareholders vote in favour of the takeover at the extraordinary general meeting on August 28.
The board said it rejected arguments made by Oxy Capital last week Thursday which said that the offer undervalued Irish Continental by up to 39%, with Oxy adding that the timing of the offer was "highly opportunistic".
The board on Tuesday said Oxy's arguments "mischaracterise the nature of the ICG business and seek to apply valuation metrics which are not comparable or appropriate. In particular, five of the nine cited precedents are port operators, not relevant to a ferry operator whose Container & Terminals division is only around 20% of group earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation and the four ferry operator deals average around nine years old, pre-dating the current rate and operating environment."
It added that Oxy "has not put forward an alternative capable of delivering superior value."
Oxy has a stake of around 1.4% in Irish Continental.
Further, the offer is recommended by the independent third-party proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services.
Bluefin said Monday it "considers the financial terms of the acquisition to be very fair and therefore confirms today that the financial terms of the acquisition are final and will not be increased."
Bluefin expects the takeover to become effective in the fourth quarter of 2026.
Irish Continental shares were 0.5% lower at EUR7.82 each on Tuesday morning in Dublin. Its shares in London were down 1.5% at 665.00 pence each, and haven risen by 39% over the past 12 months.
Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.