Fermanagh businessman Seán Quinn, his family and his insurance group Quinn Direct have taken a significant stake in Anglo Irish Bank, it emerged yesterday.
The stake in Anglo is understood to be in the region of 5 per cent, although a spokesman declined to provide a breakdown between the interests of Quinn Direct, Mr Quinn himself and that of family members. "They're admirers of Anglo. It's an investment," the spokesman said.
At Friday's closing price of €15.91 per Anglo share, the Quinn stake has a valuation of €573.85 million. Confirmation of the investment in Anglo comes not long after the Quinn group indicated that it planned in the future to concentrate almost exclusively on business opportunities in Russia and eastern Europe.
Noted for the variety of his investments, Mr Quinn's empire includes a 26 per cent stake in NCB Stockbrokers, numerous hospitality interests and operations in the cement, glass, radiator and plastics sectors. The group's turnover reached some €1.6 billion in 2006 with pretax profits of some €400 million.
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