Some London bankers have said the purchase is too highly geared and that the price may be excessive and based on overly optimistic expansion forecasts for the airport.

Royal Bank of Scotland and Credit Suisse have been approaching lenders to take part in a syndicated offer that will raise £490m to part-fund the acquisition by AIG, Credit Suisse and GE Capital. It is believed the process has proved challenging, but that RBS and Credit Suisse were confident of bringing lenders on board. AIG and GE are thought to have already stumped up £350m in cash to fund the purchase.

John Mulligan GLANBIA, the food group, may have to repay as much as 1.6m in government grants following the recent closure of its plant in Rooskey, Roscommon. The company also confirmed last week that it had turned down an offer from the plant's management to buy the facility, which was damaged in a major fire in 2002. The plant formerly engaged in slaughtering and canning activities, but the slaughtering business was consolidated on other locations following the fire.

The company has since ceased remaining production with the loss of 85 jobs.

THE HIVE, the Dublinbased advertising agency, has been appointed by Conduit for its 11850 directory enquiries service.

Terms were not disclosed but Conduit is expected to launch a major marketing campaign funded by investment from its corporate parent, which also owns the 118118 service in Britain. The Hive won a gold Shark Award earlier this year for its advertising for online bank RaboDirect.

SHELL IRELAND, the lead partner in the Corrib Gas Partners group, said Friday it had applied for a Foreshore License as a step towards selecting a new pipeline route in the waters off Rossport, Co Mayo. The company added that 700 people would be employed at the Bellanaboy terminal site once full construction begins in the autumn.

GREAT WESTERN MINING, the Irish gold, silver and uranium exploration firm headed by mining and oil entrepreneur Emmett O'Connell, reported Friday that laboratory tests had confirmed the presence of gold and silver in several of its 21 lode claims in Nevada.

O'Connell, a legendary figure in the Irish exploration community, has been scouring Nevada for a lost Mexican gold mine.

Last month, the firm listed on London's Ofex.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT IRELAND, a former state-owned Dublin-based consultancy and project management business that operates in countries as Iran, Pakistan and Uzbekistan, has reported a pre-tax profit of 1.15m for 2005 . . . down from 1.7m the previous year. The company, whose chairman is former Tanaiste Dick Spring (below), posted a loss for the year of over 3m after an exceptional writedown of an asset at a cost of almost 4m. Turnover fell to 9.75m from almost 10.2m. The company is wholly owned by Ronan Deignan and Ted Bowe.

JMCLARIFICATION The Sunday Tribune would like to clarify that Concorde Travel is now owned by Joe Walsh Tours. In last week's edition, it was mentioned that Concorde did not have a valid tour operator's licence. However, as it is now part of Joe Walsh Tours, its activities are fully regulated and licensed.