US INSURER Liberty Mutual Group yesterday formally took control of the Irish business of Quinn Insurance Ltd, the company that was founded and formerly led by Northern Ireland businessman Seán Quinn.
Ownership of the insurer has passed to a joint venture comprising Liberty, with a 51 per cent stake, and State-owned Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (formerly Anglo Irish Bank), owning 49 per cent.
All of Quinn’s 1,500 employees have transferred to Liberty Insurance, which will own the business here.
The company will continue to operate from offices in Cavan, Dublin and Enniskillen. It will be headquartered in Cavan.
Staff were briefed on the transfer of ownership yesterday.
They were told that the company will continue to use the Quinn Direct and Quinn Insurance brands for now. A new trading brand will be introduced in 2012.
All of Quinn’s Republic of Ireland policies have transferred to the new company, which will also be servicing Quinn’s UK business.
Customers have been told that their policies are unaffected by the transfer of ownership.
Liberty in Ireland will be led by Irishman Patrick O’Brien, a long-time executive with Liberty Mutual in Dublin and London.
The board of Liberty Insurance here will be chaired by Edmund Kelly, chairman of Liberty Mutual Group, and include David Long, Liberty Mutual Group president and chief executive officer.
“We are pleased with this acquisition as it enables us to enter the Irish market as the economy begins to recover,” Mr Long said.
Liberty said it plans to “build” on Quinn Insurance’s position in the Irish market and provide “enhanced services to appeal to a broader spectrum” of consumers.
IBRC chief executive Mike Aynsley welcomed the change of ownership.
“This closing marks the successful conclusion of a long and at times difficult process,” he said.
“This will ultimately create long-term economic value which will facilitate the recovery of debt – an integral part of the bank’s broader strategy to maximise returns for the Irish taxpayer.”
The joint administrators of Quinn Insurance informed the President of the High Court yesterday that the sale had been completed.
Bernard Dunleavy, for the joint administrators Michael McAteer and Paul McCann, who were appointed by the financial regulator in April 2010, informed Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns that the sale of QIL “was closed last Friday”.
All of Quinn Insurance’s businesses in the republic, except healthcare, transferred to Liberty. IBRC will have no day-to-day role in the business but will act in a loan recovery capacity.
Mr Dunleavy said Liberty had obtained a certificate of solvency from the Central Bank of Ireland.
Last month, Mr Justice Kearns approved the sale of Quinn Insurance to the joint venture.
That decision involves a total €738m of public money being paid out of the State’s Insurance Compensation Fund to the insurer, including an immediate payment of €320 million to facilitate the sale. The joint administrators had told the court the alternative to the proposed sale was liquidation.
