Consortium seeks to buy former Atlantic Mills

An Irish-led consortium of investors has said that it has negotiated the purchase of the former Atlantic Mills plant at Clondra, Co Longford. The consortium , in a press release yesterday, said that it has plans to employ up to 500 people in two to three years, although no project proposal is believed to have been put before any of the State development agencies.

The investors, led by Dublin-based McCormack Consultants and assisted by the former Taoiseach, Mr Albert Reynolds, say they plan to produce high quality cotton for the Turkish market. The plant, which closed in last December, formerly produced denim. No purchase price was disclosed by the consortium.

Last night sources said that no proposal has been put before Enterprise Ireland or IDA Ireland on the project.

Two parties Have expressed an interest in purchasing the Co Longford plant. The other party, a foreign investor interested in producing plastic laminates, would have created up to 250 jobs. That party was receiving assistance from IDA Ireland and it was unclear last night whether it retains an interest in the plant, as a sale deal may still have to finally go through with the Irish-led consortium.

Dr Chris McCormack, who runs McCormack Consultants along with his wife, Marie, said the consortium includes New York based venture capitalists and international textile trading specialists. It was advised by PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Dublin, and Keans solicitors.

The consortium hopes to take possession of the plant in July and to begin operations under new management from September. The new business, which does not yet have a name, has secured sales arrangements with "niche markets in Turkey and the Turkish republics", it says.

The investors say they expect to employ 160 people initially, with the figure increasing to approximately 500 in year two or three. The Longford plant has the capacity to produce 20 million yards of cloth per year and the consortium says it has "secured orders" for 55 million yards per year.

Dr McCormack said a lot of the textile industry was in the highvolume, low cost end of the market, with a small profit margin. The plant at Co Longford will produce cloth for the higher quality, top end of the market, where the volumes are lower but the profit margins are greater.

A second Atlantic Mills plant, in Tullamore, Co Offaly, closed in July, 1997, with the loss of 100 jobs. That factory is now owned by LMF Beach, which began production in the third quarter of last year and has plans to eventually employ 250. It supplies product to the personal computer industry.

Dr McCormack is currently leading an international consortium interested in buying the former Mackie engineering plant in Belfast, creating up to 600 jobs. The group is understood to be willing to pay up to £10 million sterling for all the Mackie assets and says it has secured extensive manufacturing contracts for new product it hopes to produce.

However, the plant is in receivership and there are plans to auction its various assets. Dr McCormack is currently in negotiations aimed at securing the purchase of all the assets.

He said he is also involved in "three other major projects" in the republic and another in North America. Two of the Irish projects are in manufacturing, he said, and the other is in pharmaceuticals. He did not wish to give any further information in relation to the projects at this stage.

A fuel chemist, Dr McCormack (36) said McCormack Consultants was involved in strategic planning and company management. It did not have any employees, he said, but used the services of a significant number of consultants. He was formerly an academic, having worker in North America, and is now involved in a range of business activities nationally and internationally.

These activities included transport logistics and fuels, pharmaceuticals, telecommunications, waste management, company restructuring and venture capital provision, he said.