Business

DCU Invent-based company Digitary has secured funding from the UK government to build a secure document shared service for universities as part of a £12.5m investment under the Universities Modernisation Fund. The initiative will be the first service to go live in the UK’s ‘Higher Education Cloud’ which aims to bring the benefits of cloud computing to universities that have traditionally implemented standalone systems on-campus. Digitary was established as Framework Solutions in 1999 to provide security software design and development services for large corporate and third-party systems for clients such as Intel, Siemens and Baltimore Technologies. The company began working with the higher education sector in 2002 on the development…

Beam Inc, the company that owns Jim Beam, Courvoisier, Teacher’s and Canadian Club, has entered into an agreement to buy Irish whiskey producer Cooley Distillery for approximately US$95m. Cooley, which was set up in 1987, owns and produces the Kilbeggan, Connemara, Tyrconnell and Greenore brands.  It currently sells approximately 250,000 9-liter cases per year – divided among its brands, private label products and bulk sales to third-party customers – and has production capacity to support substantial future growth. The purchase price is approximately US$95m on a debt-free basis. Beam expects the acquisition to be earnings neutral in 2012 and increasingly accretive moving forward. The company, which is headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois…

There is good news today for those who see their future in the biotechnology sector, as University College Dublin and Elan Corporation announce a €3m initiative designed to create a leadership position in the global biotechnology industry. The UCD Elan initiative is expected to run for at least seven years and will include a newly appointed chair position – the Business of Biotechnology, which will sit at the intersection of the UCD Smurfit Graduate School of Business and the UCD College of Science – as well as two new post-doctoral scholarships and an annual lecture series that highlights management leadership in the dynamic and ever-changing world of biotechnology on a…

So far this year, about 160 companies have closed each month, with liquidations accounting for 73pc, receiverships 26pc and examinerships 1pc of the insolvencies, according to figures out from Vision-Net. In the first 11 months of this year, 1,829 companies closed, leaving behind €1.15 billion of debt. This represents five companies closing each day, which is up 20pc on the same period last year. However, so far this year, 13,382 companies started trading, compared with 12,895 in the same period last year. Of the companies that began trading this year, 14,628 directors attached to them had been involved in a business before while 23,040 other directors were setting up for…

AIB has signed an agreement to sell its investment subsidiary, AIB Asset Management Holdings (Ireland), which includes AIB Investment Managers (AIBIM) to South African asset management company, Prescient Holdings, for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2012. AIB said the positive impact on the group’s capital position as a result of the transaction is not material. Irish Life & Permanent withdrew its preferred bid for the unit in April. Grainne Rothery

The firm, which already employs over 100 people in Dublin, is to expand its Irish presence by establishing a new R&D team in the capital, creating 35 new jobs. This investment is supported by the Irish Government through IDA Ireland. Today’s announcement will see the company establish a dedicated R&D team of 25 people creating high value positions for software engineering professionals. In addition 10 software consultancy roles will also be created. The roles will be for highly skilled software engineering professionals with a degree and/or masters in computer science. Welcoming the announcement, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton TD said: “A key part of this government’s strategy…

Point-of-care diagnostics company Biosensia has secured funding of €1.2m which will enable it to pursue regulatory approval and advance its commercial partnership strategy in Europe and the US. Headquartered at NovaUCD in Dublin, Biosensia employs five people and intends to increase staff numbers to 15 by 2013 as part of its commercialisation strategy. There is a significant unmet need for more convenient, accurate and affordable point of care solutions, and Biosensia is poised to become a major player in the development of next-generation, point of care diagnostic products, according to CEO Diarmuid Flavin.  Biosensia’s platform, RapiPlex, is a point of care in vitro diagnostics platform. It enables the transition of…

Winner of the NovaUCD 2011 Start-Up Award, pharmaceutical research and technologies company APC plans to create 20 high-skill jobs in the next two years. The company was co-founded earlier this year by Professor Brian Glennon and Dr. Mark Barrett as a spin-out from UCD’s School of Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering and already included many of the top 10 pharmaceutical companies in the world on its client list. It provides pharmaceutical processing technologies and customized solutions to pharmaceutical companies that require the delivery of their medicines to the global market in a lean, reliable, and robust manner. APC has already hired three permanent, PhD-qualified engineers and chemists.  Most of the 20 jobs…

Twenty new jobs are being created through the launch of a new concept called ‘skinflint’ from Irish company Jo’burger. Joe Macken set up Jo’Burger in 2007 and following examinership in 2009, was joined by John Roberts as a business partner. The business grew from then on to now employing under 100 people altogether. Based in Temple Bar at 19 Crane Lane, skinflint will open for trade on 14 November and the product concept won’t be disclosed until the first customer crosses the threshold. The concept will be promoted using Twitter and the first 500 customers will be served free of charge. 19 Crane Lane was previously the setting for Dublin’s…

Eighteen of the top 25 World’s Best Multinational Workplaces revealed last night by the Great Place to Work Institute have significant operations in Ireland. Winner of the Best Place to Work in Ireland for the past three years, Microsoft, was named the number one global workplace at ceremony at the New York Stock Exchange last night.  Microsoft employs 1,000 people here. “We’ve always believed that a great place to work is as relevant in an economic downturn as it is when times are good.  There’s a common misconception that focusing on this area is a nice to have rather than a critical element of what makes a company successful.  Our…