RE:Many Terrible Investments - for DDjust refreshment memories !!! from €35 million to
€1.1bn not bad!!!
€1.1bn airport sale makes Desmond Ireland’s richest man
Thursday, October 12, 2006
FINANCIER Dermot Desmond was flying high yesterday after his sale of London City Airport for €1.1 billion made him the richest Irish-born individual.
Mr Desmond is the sole shareholder in the airport and the sale to a US banking consortium represents a profit of €1.065bn on the venture.
The billionaire bought the airport from the John Mowlem construction company in 1995 for just under €35 million.
The profits for the sale will be mostly tax-free as Mr Desmond is a tax exile based in Gibraltar.
And it should make him Ireland’s richest-born individual, with a fortune estimated at over €2bn, overtaking newspaper tycoon Tony O’Reilly and Sean Quinn, the owner of insurance giant Quinn Direct.
The airport was put up for sale by Mr Desmond earlier this year and a number of bidders have pushed the price up significantly.
When the sale was first mooted in May, some analysts put the price at €500m.
Under Mr Desmond’s ownership the airport has recovered from the brink of collapse.
It has largely shunned the consumer travel market in favour of business passengers from Europe and Ireland. Travel from the airport, in the docklands, to the centre of London takes just a few minutes and it has benefited from being connected to a light rail system.
The airport’s new owners are American International Group, GE Finance and investment bank Credit Suisse.
The airport made a profit of €11m in 2004 on turnover of just under €50m. It is expected to make a profit of €27m this year.
A spokesperson for the airport said the deal is still subject to EU merger clearance and will be finalised next month.
The sale will double the wealth of Macroom-born Mr Desmond. He made his first millions when setting up NCB Stockbrokers.
Since then he has built up his fortune through investments in Esat, Baltimore Technologies, Celtic Football Club, private health insurer Vivas and Betdaq, the internet betting exchange.
Money never made a man happy yet, nor will it. The more a man has, the more he wants. Instead of filling a vacuum, it makes one. --Benjamin Franklin