The High Court has approved the sale of Quinn Insurance Ltd to a joint venture of US insurer Liberty Mutual and Anglo Irish Bank.
The decision means a total €738 million of public money will be paid out of the State's Insurance Compensation Fund to the insurer, including an immediate payment of €320 million to facilitate the sale with the remainder later, subject to applications to the court.
A representative of the insurer's employees had told he court the vast majority supported the sale because they believe it will safeguard their livelihoods.
The President of the High Court, Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns, today approved the sale proposals, advanced by the insurer's joint administrators. After a three day hearing, the judge said he had decided to give his decision now given the fact the transaction is subject to time limits, the commercial sensitivities involved and the needs of the affected parties for certainty.
He said he had decided to approve the transfer by Quinn Insurance Ltd to Liberty of those parts of the insurance business as identified in the sale scheme. He would give his full reasons for his decision in a written judgment next week, the judge added.
Two groups representing a number of Quinn policy holders and others had expressed several concerns about the proposed deal and claimed it involved an unfair distribution of public resources.
Both groups - Concerned Irish Citizens (CIC) and Concerned Irish Business (CIB) - also argued the High Court had not been given enough information about the deal to make an informed decision. They also indicated they had been supportive of alternative proposals for the insurer advanced by Quinn interests.
A solicitor representing the Quinn Group Ltd told the court today the group wished to make clear it was fully supportive of the sale proposals of the administrators and was not involved in the alternative proposals. Solicitor David Baxter said he believed the alternative proposals had been advanced by members of the Quinn family and some shareholders.
Earlier, Pauline Walley SC, for CIC, said the administrators proposals would see a lot of Quinn Insurance Ltd's cash assets, about €761 million, being transferred to the purchaser. There were also no formal certificates of solvency and authorisation for Liberty, as required under the relevant law, before the court, she submitted.
Denis McDonald SC, for the administators, said no alternative to the sale had been advanced by the objectors. The alternative to the sale was liquidation of Quinn Insurance Ltd, with 1,600 job losses and a deficit of up to €1,300 million, he said. It was "fanciful" to suggest another buyer could be found, he added.
Mr McDonald also said the sale scheme was conditional on the Central Bank authorising Liberty to practise here and on the company meeting the solvency requirements.