The long-standing chairman of Irish Continental Group, John McGuckian faces a potential campaign by dissident shareholders seeking his removal if the ferries operator fails to secure approval at an extraordinary general meeting (egm) for a €1.2 billion management buyout deal, writes Joe Brennan.Valeo Foods has agreed a deal to sell its Irish business, which makes the Jacob’s Biscuits and Odlums brands, to a consortium led by food sector investor Hilliard Lombard, who was managing director of the group for several year up to 2019. Killian Woods has the details.Killian also reports that AIB and Bank of Ireland have each invested €35 million into US investor Avenue Capital’s residential fund, just as Avenue confirmed an investment of up to €100 million by its fund in a joint venture with Joe O’Reilly’s development firm Catlethorn. Mortgage switching and remortgaging activity continued to surge last month, data indicated, as homeowners look to lock in new terms in advance of further European Central Bank interest rate increases. Ian Curran reports.It comes as Eoin Burke-Kennedy reports that Irish consumer sentiment rose marginally in August despite the uncertain economic outlook and the ongoing cost of living squeeze. Meanwhile, the wealth of Irish households rose to a record €1.4 trillion in the first quarter of 2026.In his column, Eoin writes that the benign view is that United States bond markets are throwing a hissy fit because new Fed chairman Kevin Warsh won’t “spoon-feed” them (signal the likely direction of monetary policy). The less-benign view is that Donald Trump’s tax and spending plans, which have pushed US debt to an eye-watering $40 trillion (€34.3 trillion), are coming undone.In Agenda, Barry O’Halloran looks at the Irish companies, big and small, that have jumped on the data centre bandwagon, in some cases turning niche businesses that rarely surfaced on the corporate radar into multimillion euro industry players.Datalex, the retail software provider to airlines, has said it is considering raising fresh capital to strengthen its balance sheet after returning to positive earnings for the first time in four years, writes Joe Brennan.Gordon Deegan noted the trend of European Union nationals declaring themselves bankrupt in the Republic, which accelerated in 2025, according to the annual report for the Insolvency Service of Ireland. A proposed Government forum to ease regulatory burdens and reduce business costs should hold “quarterly meetings to discuss the cost of doing business” in the Republic, business lobbyists, representative bodies and trade unions have recommended in a report on reducing business costs and increasing competitiveness published this morning.All change at Johnny Ronan’s Ronan Group Real Estate where Rory Williams has stepped down as chief executive and family members have taken greater responsibility for running the business.If you’d like to read more about the issues that affect your finances, try signing up to On the Money, the weekly newsletter from our personal finance team, which will be issued every Friday to Irish Times subscribers.