This article is from page 3 of the 2009-11-03 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 3 JPG
IT HAS been confirmed that US- based firm, Emerson Electric, is to buy out Avocent, which employs more than 100 people at its base in Shannon.
But it is understood that the $1.2 billion deal to buy the company is unlikely to harbour any major chang- es at the Shannon concern.
Under the deal, Emerson 1s paying €25 per share, a premium of 22 per cent over the price which was quoted for shares a few days before the deal
was agreed.
It is understood that the deal will be completed by the New Year.
There was no-one available today to comment on the Emerson buy-out but it is understood that employees were aware that the deal is going through.
The parent company, Avocent In- ternational, announced a restructur- ing programme in July of last year which involved the loss of 57 jobs at the Shannon operation as well as another seven in Dublin. The cuts affected research and development,
marketing and technical support functions as well as the transfer of its Asia operations from Shannon to its newly established operations in Sin- gapore.
The functions of Avocent’s Dublin office were also transferred to the US, resulting in seven redundancies.
Shannon remained the company’s support centre for Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
There was good news on the con- struction business front in Clare this week as a Clare company landed a €2 million contract. The Limerick Mar-
ket Trustees yesterday announced the appointment of Clare-based L&M Keating Ltd as the main contractor for the development project at Lim- erick’s Milk Market. This is a sig- nificant coup for the Kilmihil-based firm, with demand for construction work currently at an all-time low and intense competition for the limited work that is available.
L&M Keating Ltd won out over a to- tal of eight building contractors who submitted tenders for the project.
‘Key factors which led to Keatings’ success include their superb track
record in the building trade, expertise with heritage projects and the value for money they offered,’ said David O’Mahony, Chairman, Limerick Market Trustees Ltd.
Other projects completed by L&M Keating Ltd include the construction of the Doonbeg Hotel and Golf Club and restoration of the 18th-century Clifden House in Corofin.
Commenting on the appointment, Louis Keating, Managing Director, L&M Keating said they are “delight- ed to win such a high-profile project, especially in the current economic