DUBLIN, Ireland—An article by Tom Lyons published in the Sunday Independent reports on one of the country’s newest corporate citizens, Manwin, which "opened an office in Dublin after setting up a low-tax intellectual property hub here only six months ago to handle its racy online content," and “has already hired 33 staff for its office which, is just yards from the entrance of Facebook, the IDA investment flagship, and close to other technology standard-bearers, Google and LinkedIn.”
Despite these proximities, Manwin's footprint is characterized by Lyons as “discreet. The company is located on one floor of a nondescript serviced office close to Grand Canal Quay but a visit by the Sunday Independent to its offices could find no outward sign of the company, which is estimated to make €100m a year from its online activities.”
A Manwin spokesperson confirmed to Lyons that the company opened a Dublin office in recent months and was interested in hiring more people, telling him, "We are in the midst of global expansion and very happy to be able to tap into the amazing local talent found in Ireland."
Lyons adds that the spokesperson, who charcterized Manwin as "a leading international IT firm, and one of the top five bandwidth consumption companies in the world," declined to specify "what it does here or to discuss whether it had located here in part for tax purposes," replying instead, "Manwin is a private company and accordingly, matters pertaining to its operations are treated in the same manner."
Lyons also reports on information culled from corporate filings. “Documents filed in Dublin's Company Registration Office (CRO) show that Manwin has a complex corporate structure here with its interests in Dublin linked to its other businesses in Miami Beach, Florida and Boulevard Royal in Luxembourg," he writes. “These records show at different points it has used two of the country's most prestigious law firms, Arthur Cox and A&L Goodbody, to advise it on commercial matters.
“Manwin's five Irish subsidiaries,” he adds, “are Manwin Ireland Holdco, Manwin Content RK, Manwin Content DP, Manwin Billing Ireland and Manwin Tubes. All of Manwin's companies are registered in Riverview House on City Quay but its actual office is several hundred yards away, further towards the mouth of the river Liffey.”
He also names a few of the porn titles listed in the filings by Manwin Content RK, including VIP Crew, Tranny Surprise, MILF Hunter and Mike in Brazil.” The subsidiary, he wrote, “lists over 1,500 online movies and websites which are ultimately controlled by Thylmann, a computer programmer nicknamed in his native Germany ‘The Ruler in the Realm of Lust’.”
He adds, “The documents also show an asset purchase agreement valued at $81m with pages of legal documents governing patents, intellectual property and intergroup deals between Manwin's Irish interests and the rest of the world.”
The article ends with a brief mention of the recent scandal provoked by the supposed revelations that another more widely known corporation, Apple, had “set up special intellectual property holding companies here to avail of our low taxes,” damaging Ireland’s reputation in the process, according to Lyons.
If that is so, Ireland’s reputation has apparently been flirting with disaster for a while. According to Reuters, the company's "almost tax-free status dates all the way back to Apple's arrival in County Cork 32 years ago.”
Photo: Sunset on the Liffey
