Plans by Minister for Communications Denis Naughten to refer the proposed takeover of Celtic Media by Independent News & Media (INM) to the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) were relayed to Denis O’Brien two months before they were made public, according to court documents. He argued in an affidavit filed after a year-long investigation into the firm that Mr Buckley shared information with Mr O’Brien in eight emails and one text from March 2016 to January 2017. This was done “in advance of that information being available to INM’s other shareholders”, potentially breaching Market Abuse Regulations. The Drennan affidavit shows Mr Buckley forwarded Mr Heneghan’s email to Mr O’Brien 31 minutes later. Mr Naughten did not formally refer the later abandoned merger to the BAI until January 2017.

Source: The Irish Times April 18, 2018 03:22 UTC