Paul Coulson realised almost 36.5M/Euros from a partial encashment of his personal investments in a reorganisation of his Luxembourg-based business empire reports The Irish Times. The owner of Ardagh Glass & Rexam, the world's biggest drinks can maker, took money off the table twice in the past 2y by selling shares in his investment vehicle Yeoman. A veteran investor who has built up significant wealth, Mr Coulson is known to have considered acquiring a 21% stake in Eircom in the takeover battle that saw a consortium led by Sir Anthony O'Reilly take control of that business in 2001. Public filings in the Luxembourg companies registry indicate Mr Coulson realised some 26.5M/Euros from the sale of his shares in a little-known quoted vehicle called Yeoman International Holdings when it was delisted from the Luxembourg stock exchange last July. As owner of a 32.8 per cent stake in the business, he also realised some Ç9.95 million in March 2006 when the company bought back shares and cancelled them. A total of Ç30.1 million was returned to shareholders at that time. A privately held company called Yeoman Capital was established in Luxembourg last September to manage the investments previously held by Yeoman International Holdings, but the modality of the transfer of assets and the price at which they were valued is not known.
