Quinn hires experts in devising rescue deals

QUINN GROUP has drafted in experts who specialise in rescue deals for debt-laden banks, utilities and other businesses, to help it find a way out of its current crisis.

The Séan Quinn-controlled group, which owns Quinn Insurance and a range of manufacturing and property companies, said yesterday that it has appointed Talbot Hughes McKillop to “provide financial restructuring services to the company”.

It has also appointed one of the firm’s partners, Murdoch McKillop, as an interim executive director.

Mr McKillop and his colleagues are likely to look at all aspects of the group’s businesses, including the €2.8 billion that it owes to State-owned Anglo Irish Bank, and the property companies whose debts its insurance arm has guaranteed.

However, it will not be involved in Quinn Insurance, which has been under the control of provisional administrators Paul McCann and Michael McAteer of Grant Thornton for the last two weeks.

Yesterday, Quinn Group chief executive Liam McCaffrey said: “Mr McKillop’s role will be to assist the board and the executive management team to successfully work through the group’s current issues and to ensure that executive management are not excessively diverted from the vitally important job of running our manufacturing business”.

Talbot Hughes McKillop has worked on a number of large-scale restructurings. It has been advising Icelandic investment bank Straumur, which has debts of €2 billion and which is trying work through insolvency proceedings and towards a viable rescue plan.

The firm also advised on the successful rescue of Icelandic shipping company Eimskip, which owed creditors €1.6 billion. Other projects in which it has been involved include the financial restructuring of the British-French Euro Tunnel group and Teeside Power.

A number of years ago, it advised IWP, the troubled Dublin-listed household products group, led by businessman Joe Moran, which was sold to private equity players early in 2007.

It is understood that the Quinn Group decided to appoint Talbot Hughes McKillop over the last few days. The group has businesses in cement and building materials manufacturing, glass production, plastics and radiator manufacturing.

The current crisis facing the company began when the High Court placed Quinn Insurance in provisional administration at the request of the Financial Regulator.

The banking and financial services watchdog found that the insurance company had guaranteed €1.2 billion of debts owed by other businesses in the group. This included €600 million in bonds owed to a group of 20 US creditors.

The insurance arm’s guarantee meant that it did not have enough assets to meet the solvency requirements laid down by the regulator.

Earlier this week, the regulator asked the High Court to confirm the administrators’ appointment to Quinn Insurance. The court adjourned the case for a week.