Digicel magnate about to make the call of his life
The telecoms magnate, whose fortune is heading towards the billion euro mark, seemed destined for the governor's chair until last week when he resigned from the bank and a number of other companies where he was a director.
The reason is that Denis O'Brien is now concentrating on the flotation on the New York Stock Exchange of his Caribbean telecoms company Digicel. It could make him Ireland's wealthiest person. Of course there are those who cannot believe that Denis O'Brien would forfeit the prospect of being governor of what is still called 'the Court' of the Bank of Ireland without some other motive.
Conspiracy theorists have plenty of scope for speculation. In recent years, Mr O'Brien has been involved in the investigations of the Moriarty tribunal. What started as a probe into the dealings of former minister Michael Lowry with Dunnes Stores has morphed into an investigation into the awarding of the country's first mobile licence to O'Brien's company Esat.
The tribunal has looked into the complex world of offshore accounts, property dealing in Manchester, the purchase of a house in Blackrock, Dublin by Mr Lowry, a flat near Marbella in Spain, owned by businessman David Austin and the ownership of Doncaster Rovers, a football club in the north of England.
The tribunal was told by Mr O'Brien's one-time associate Barry Maloney that while they were out jogging in the Dublin mountains Mr O'Brien told him about two payments of ?100,000 - one of them to Mr Lowry. Mr Moloney said Mr O'Brien said later: "Thank God I didn't do it, it never went through" referring to this alleged payment.
As O'Brien's dealings with the tribunal became more acrimonious, his father, also Denis, accused Judge Michael Moriarty of a conducting a "witch hunt" against his son. The tycoon was also clearly upset when tribunal solicitors demanded a report from his wife Catherine's gynaecologist when Mr O'Brien failed to turn up at the tribunal because she was having a baby in England.
While the saga was dragging interminably, Denis O'Brien was using his time and the ?289m he made from the sale of Esat to build an even more valuable mobile franchise throughout the Caribbean.
Mr O'Brien's good fortune in Digicel started with a meeting in the US with showbiz accountant Ozzie Kilkenny. They then made a successful ?47m bid for a mobile licence for Jamaica and since then Digicel has marched relentlessly through the Caribbean.
However the initial partnership ended on the steps of the High Court in Dublin when Mr O'Brien agreed a multimillion euro settlementto buy out the former U2 accountant. He now owns 85 per cent of Digicel.
Although there are no concrete proposals on the table, the speculation is that O'Brien will 'float' the company on the New York Stock Exchange. It could be worth over ?1bn.
Executives in the company include Colm Delves and Stephen Brewer; among the directors are long time associates Leslie Buckley, Paul Connolly and Lucy Gaffney, while media consultant PJ Mara is also a director of the firm.
In the meantime Mr O'Brien, who has houses in Raglan Rd, Dublin, Mount Juliet, Co Kilkenny, and Quinta de Lago and Almancil on the Algarve in Portugal has now, according to his latest company filing, bought an upmarket apartment in in Valetta, Malta.
Mr O'Brien's move to Portugal and the consequent avoidance of tax in Ireland on his huge profits from the sale of Esat caused controversy. It now appears that his new address in Malta could ensure that he pays no tax on the sale of Digicel, should it eventually go ahead.
According to finance experts, someone who buys property in Malta above a certain value does not have to pay any tax on income or assets held outside the jurisdiction. Asked about his latest address in Malta, Mr O'Brien's spokesman replied: "How many addresses does Tony O'Reilly have? Well Denis O'Brien has a few as well . . . and you can quote me on that."
- Liam Collins
