Anglo and Liberty preferred bidder

JOINT VENTURE:A JOINT venture by Anglo Irish Bank and US insurance giant Liberty Mutual has been identified as the preferred bidder for the Quinn Insurance group, the High Court was told yesterday.

Quinn employees in Ireland can retain their jobs if the Anglo-Liberty Mutual bid gets the go-ahead from the relevant authorities, the court also heard.

Lawyers for the joint administrators of the insurer told president of the High Court Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns that Boston-based Liberty Mutual, the fifthlargest property and casualty insurer in the US with 45,000 employees worldwide, will be wholly responsible for the operation of Quinn’s insurance business.

Anglo, the majority partner in the proposed acquisition, will have “no involvement” in the day-to-day operation of the new company but would act “in a loan recovery capacity”, the court heard. No other offers for Quinn would be considered, it was also stated.

The matter was briefly mentioned before Mr Justice Kearns as the joint administrators Michael McAteer and Paul McCann of Grant Thornton had previously indicated they wished to keep the court fully informed of the sale process.

Mr Justice Kearns welcomed the news and adjourned the matter to a date in early May.

Bernard Dunleavy, for the joint administrators, said the contracts of sale had yet to be signed but it was envisaged there would be no job losses in either the Republic or Northern Ireland as a result of the sales process. All 1,570 employees in Quinn Insurance Ltd are to transfer to the new commercial entity, he said.

Counsel said it is proposed Quinn Insurance’s offices in Navan and Manchester will close with the 100 staff in the Co Meath office to transfer to either Cavan or Blanchardstown and 30 staff in Manchester to be offered redundancy.

Counsel said it will take a number of weeks before the proposed sale can be finalised but Quinn’s customers’ policies would not be affected by the announcement and it was very much a case of “business as usual”.