Quinn Insurance in Administration

[orangeman]

Are you sure that SQ has lost control of the entire group ?


I can't see that being able to be pushed through without a serious legal challenge.


It's some mess. Not what we needed at this or any time.

[supersarsfields]

I'm only going on reports from the news and from speaking to a few other employees but it seems that they have taken control of everything.

There'll be a legal challange but it'll take years for any conclusion to come from that. Still in shock at this decision tbh. I knew the insurance was more or less a goner (despite the lies that has obviously been told to QD representatives over the last week or so) but I didn't think they would take the Group.

[AQMP]

From the Irish Times:

The Quinn Group is to undergo major financial and corporate restructuring following the appointment of a receiver to the Quinn family's share in the business by Anglo Irish Bank.  Seán Quinn and his family will no longer have any role in the management, operations or ownership of the group under the plan, which was announced today.  Mr Quinn was unable to repay €2.8 billion in loans that built up through borrowings from Anglo Irish that he used to fund massive share investments in the bank. Other lenders to the Quinn Group are owed some €1.28 billion.

Kieran Wallace of KPMG has been appointed share receiver and will take control of the family's interests in the group. Mr Wallace will oversee the appointment of a new board of directors.  Anglo chief executive Mike Aynsley said the appointment would have no impact on the day-to-day operation of the company. "A share receiver is different from normal receiver, which takes over the assets of a company," he said.  Mr Aynsley said that there "will no doubt be some write offs" associated with the overall level of debt owed to Anglo Irish Bank by Mr Quinn.

Quinn Group chairman Pat O'Neill said an agreement in principle had been reached with its lenders on a way to restructure its debt. This is expected to relieve the manufacturing side of the group of some €500 million of debt over a period of five years.  The Quinn Group is involved in the manufacture of glass, insulation materials, packaging, plastics and radiators. More than 2,600 are employed in the group's manufacturing activities, with 1,000 of the jobs in Ireland.  Mr O'Neill said the restructuring would provide financial stability and sustainability to the group.  "We do not anticipate job losses from or related to this restructuring," he said. "On the contrary it will help to protect jobs. There are no plans whatever to break-up the manufacturing businesses."

Minister for Finance Michael Noonan welcomed the debt restructuring plan agreed between Anglo Irish and the Quinn lenders. "This structure will enable the good and strong businesses to continue to trade and grow. It is particularly important that there will be no impact on employment, on trade creditors or on day-to-day operations of the Quinn Group," he said.  Lenders to the Quinn Group, including Irish and other international institutions, said they looked forward to working with the newly appointed board.  "The debt restructuring plan includes a substantial debt reduction on the group's manufacturing operations which will provide the foundation for the Quinn Group's future growth and success," they said in a statement.

The Quinn Group has also announced the appointment of a new chief executive. Paul O'Brien (43), currently a non-executive director of Quinn Group having joined the board last November, is to take over from Liam McCaffrey.  Mr O'Brien was chief executive of Four Leaf Investment NV, which operates a number of hotels in Belgium and France. He previously worked with Compaq and UTV Media plc.

It was also announced today that a joint venture of US insurer Liberty Mutual and Anglo Irish Bank have been selected as the preferred bidder for the general insurance business of Quinn Insurance Ltd.  While the deal has yet to be finalised and the contracts of sale have yet to be signed, it is envisaged there will no job losses among the insurance firms 1,570 employees in the Republic or Northern Ireland as a result.  If successful, the bid would see Liberty Mutual, the fifth largest insurer in the US, take complete responsibility for the operation of the new business.  Joint administrators Michael McAteer and Paul McCann said Anglo would have no involvement in the day-to-day operation of the new company, but would act in a loan recovery capacity.

Quinn Insurance was placed in administration in March of last year at the request of the Financial Regulator.  Mr O'Neill said Mr Quinn had deservedly earned the respect for the work he did starting and building up the Quinn Group businesses.  "Sadly, in more recent years a number of well-publicised events have left the manufacturing group with substantial borrowings which, quite simply, the group could not service. If these debts were not restructured, the businesses could not survive in their present form," he said.  Mr Quinn stepped down as head of the group in May of last year. His family owned as much as 28 per cent of Anglo Irish Bank at one point, having built their shareholding through contracts for difference, which did not require them to reveal their stakebuilding.  The stock declined rapidly as the financial crisis worsened, eventually wiping out Mr Quinn's €2.8 billion investment after Anglo was nationalised in January 2009.

[supersarsfields]

I don't think there will be  immediate job losses within the group to be fair. It seems to be on a level footing and most are geographically tied to the area with the factories, quarries etc.
But I'd be very surprised if there's not more redundacies from the insurance side within the next 6months. In addition to the numbers quoted in the papers there's roughly 1000 self employed Claims Managers that only work for Quinn. We've been more or less told that the likelyhood of Liberty keeping us on is small. Course there'll be little mention of these job losses in any of the papers. 

[unitedireland]

I feel very sad for Sean he made a huge mistake but hasn't been allow to try and rectify it. Don't understand why Anglo and the government are giving up on the family debt by taking over the company.

[supersarsfields]

That's a bit I can't understand myself. I see no benefit in what they have done. He had a proposal that had been stress tested by PWC as a means of paying the debt back over 5-7 years and then on top of that Anglo would have been able to sell a solid insurance company instead of the mess it is now.
They have more or less said that they are never going to get some of it back now. And they have the added risk now of SQ taking legal action against Anglo for falsifying of accounts.

[orangeman]

That's a bit I can't understand myself. I see no benefit in what they have done. He had a proposal that had been stress tested by PWC as a means of paying the debt back over 5-7 years and then on top of that Anglo would have been able to sell a solid insurance company instead of the mess it is now.
They have more or less said that they are never going to get some of it back now. And they have the added risk now of SQ taking legal action against Anglo for falsifying of accounts.

[/b]

Does that judgement in Belfast court today make that possibility more likely now ?


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-13097268

[mylestheslasher]

What a sad day this is for Cavan & Fermanagh and indeed a lot of other counties too. A man who single handedly created 1000's of jobs when no one would touch the region is not being hung out to dry. Sean Quinn will probably be declared bankrupt soon which will mean he will not be allowed to start a business for 12 years. What a country, we destroy the type of man we desperately need to get us out of this shit we are in.

[orangeman]

What a sad day this is for Cavan & Fermanagh and indeed a lot of other counties too. A man who single handedly created 1000's of jobs when no one would touch the region is not being hung out to dry. Sean Quinn will probably be declared bankrupt soon which will mean he will not be allowed to start a business for 12 years. What a country, we destroy the type of man we desperately need to get us out of this shit we are in.

The papers were speculating that SQ will go across the border where bankruptcy laws are more relaxed and less onerous.

12 months in the North and you're up and running again.

I agree with you - SQ and the likes of him are desperately needed at this time to create opportunities. I'm told he had big plans for even more employment in the Fermanagh and Cavan areas.

[sammymaguire]

Irish government finally got their man... Quinn Group basically nationalised now with the fact Anglo is stated owned? He made a massive mistake, which can only have been on the basis of numbers that must have looked very appealing. It's all wrong.

[supersarsfields]

That's a bit I can't understand myself. I see no benefit in what they have done. He had a proposal that had been stress tested by PWC as a means of paying the debt back over 5-7 years and then on top of that Anglo would have been able to sell a solid insurance company instead of the mess it is now.
They have more or less said that they are never going to get some of it back now. And they have the added risk now of SQ taking legal action against Anglo for falsifying of accounts.

[/b]

Does that judgement in Belfast court today make that possibility more likely now ?


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-13097268

Not sure tbh OM. Everything is very up in the air at the minute. It could open a whole can of worms if he was successful against Anglo as anyone who invested under the false figures would then be entitled to do the same. But there's a bit to be sorted before it gets that far.

[Orangemac]

I don't think there will be  immediate job losses within the group to be fair. It seems to be on a level footing and most are geographically tied to the area with the factories, quarries etc.
But I'd be very surprised if there's not more redundacies from the insurance side within the next 6months. In addition to the numbers quoted in the papers there's roughly 1000 self employed Claims Managers that only work for Quinn. We've been more or less told that the likelyhood of Liberty keeping us on is small. Course there'll be little mention of these job losses in any of the papers.

Deal seems to involve no sale of Quinn Group assets for 5 years so jobs should be safe from that end.

Initially anyway Liberty/Anglo deal is proposing no job losses but once the takeover is complete I suppose they can do what they want after 6 or 12 months.
Maybe I am being naive but would the fact that the CEO of Liberty is from Derrynoose count for anything in terms of keeping jobs in the border areas?

[AQMP]

I don't think there will be  immediate job losses within the group to be fair. It seems to be on a level footing and most are geographically tied to the area with the factories, quarries etc.
But I'd be very surprised if there's not more redundacies from the insurance side within the next 6months. In addition to the numbers quoted in the papers there's roughly 1000 self employed Claims Managers that only work for Quinn. We've been more or less told that the likelyhood of Liberty keeping us on is small. Course there'll be little mention of these job losses in any of the papers.

Deal seems to involve no sale of Quinn Group assets for 5 years so jobs should be safe from that end.

Initially anyway Liberty/Anglo deal is proposing no job losses but once the takeover is complete I suppose they can do what they want after 6 or 12 months.
Maybe I am being naive but would the fact that the CEO of Liberty is from Derrynoose count for anything in terms of keeping jobs in the border areas?

I've heard that mentioned a few times here over he past couple of days.  Maybe but IMHO you don't get to be CEO of a company like this by letting sentiment rule your business decisions.

[Cde]

[/quote]
I've heard that mentioned a few times here over he past couple of days.  Maybe but IMHO you don't get to be CEO of a company like this by letting sentiment rule your business decisions.
[/quote]


Sean Quinn   

[supersarsfields]

It seems a lot of what the papers are being told regarding these jobs being safe isn't exactly 100%. what's being said behind closed doors by Anglo is a far cry from wat we're being told in the papers.

And it seems they're running scared of this legal challange. I see they're trying the auld emotional blackmail now. Saying a legal challange will threaten the jobs.

<sup>Aynsley warned, however, that any move by Quinn to pursue legal action against Anglo over its move to put the Quinn Group into receivership could potentially put the jobs of many of its 4,500 employees at risk.

Legal action, he told Ronald Quinlan, would "not be productive to the interests of the businesses Sean Quinn spent so many years building up, or for the people employed there."</sup>



The spin that Anglo are putting into the papers is crazy when you know what's really going on. This move by Anglo is going to go down as one of the worst ever. They've virtually blown any chance of getting the debt back and are going to end up killing employment in that area.

Cement will be the first to feel the pinch and i'd guess less than 6 months before we see the first lay-ofs if not before.  There's even some in the know who reckon you could be looking at the factory closing in that time! It seems SQ is getting a lot of support from his Previous customers. Many stating they won't deal with Anglo.