Owner of Quinn Insurance expects business boost under Liberty banner

THE NEW owner of Quinn Insurance has said its association with bankrupt businessman Seán Quinn could be holding the company back at present but he expected a bounce in business when it rebranded under the Liberty banner early next year.

“There’s probably a little bit of a drag there at the moment, given that we haven’t changed the brand,” said Pat O’Brien, the chief executive of Liberty Insurance, which recently acquired the Quinn business in the Republic.

“We would expect to see a significant uptick in business when we rebrand in the new year.”

Mr O’Brien was speaking at a media briefing in Dublin yesterday that was also attended by David Long, chief executive of Liberty Mutual Group, the Irish insurer’s US-based parent, and a board member of the Irish company.

Mr Long said the Quinn deal was “opportunistic”, adding that Ireland’s current economic woes and the euro zone financial crisis did not deter it from investing here.

“You’re not the only folks with an economic crisis at the moment,” he said. “We looked at entering Ireland a number of years ago. Part of our strategy [this time] was opportunistic . . . we saw a company [Quinn Insurance] that we liked the foundation of.

“We’ve actually seen small signs in Ireland that the economy is starting to bounce back, albeit slowly. We buy companies for the long term . . . and hopefully this will provide us with a springboard into the UK.”

Liberty and Irish Bank Resolution Corporation – formerly Anglo Irish Bank – this month jointly acquired Quinn in the Republic.

They also manage its business in Northern Ireland and Britain under a contract with the joint administrators. They have an option to buy this business at the end of 2012.

“We want to take our time in analysing the opportunity,” Mr O’Brien said.

In the Republic, Mr O’Brien added that it would broaden its target market in motor insurance and beef up its presence in household and commercial insurance.

“We have probably an 11 to 12 per cent share in motor,” he said. “That was bigger, about 15 to 16 per cent. On the household side, we’ve got about 3 to 4 per cent.”

He said the Quinn business contracted by 35 to 40 per cent during administration. “The reality is that we’re operating in a very difficult economy. The insurance market here is fairly stagnant and there’s no real growth, so it’s going to take some time to rebuild the business.”