Company placed in examinership for second time in two years

Pharmaceutical company Miza Ireland, formerly Antigen, a major employer in Roscrea, Co Tipperary, has been placed in examinership again, according to industry sources.

It is the second time in two years that the company, which employs approximately 250 people, has been put in examinership.

The move is believed to have occurred on Friday and is the result of financial problems being encountered by its Canadian owner.

Antigen was bought by Canadian company Miza Pharmaceuticals in November 2001 under a scheme of arrangement approved by the courts. However a UK subsidiary of the Canadian company has since got into financial difficulties and this has in turn hit the Irish operation.

It is understood a notice was put up in the factory last week to say that Canadian directors Dr Jack Kachkar and Mr Rob Carrigan had resigned.

Repeated requests for a comment from the company last week met with no response.

Miza president, Dr Jack Kachkar, contacted in Canada on Friday, did not have a clear answer when asked if he had resigned from the board of Miza Ireland.

"I can't answer your question because I don't know as yet. We're in a process of restructuring and I would prefer if we could talk next week," he said. The company secretary, Mr Michael Cormack, resigned earlier this month.

Industry sources have confirmed that an examiner has been appointed and that a new owner is being sought. The previous examiner was appointed in May 2001.

Miza bought Antigen for €35.5 million (£28 million) last year under a controversial deal whereby some creditors were to be paid prior to others, particularly the banks.

Bank of Ireland and ICC, which between them were owed €10.4 million, were very unhappy with the scheme at the time but the courts approved the deal because it was feared the company might otherwise close.

It is not clear that the new owners were able to maintain the scheme of arrangement in relation to the payment of debts. Creditors were owed approximately €21.6 million at the time of the takeover.

As part of the deal a payment was made by Miza to the former owner of Antigen, Mr George Fasenfield, outside the scheme of arrangement. This is thought to have been a first. It was done with the knowledge of the court and the amount involved is thought to have been in the region of €6.3 million.

Since taking over the Roscrea factory Miza has sold off the sales, marketing and distribution side of the business to UK marketing company Goldshield for €15.2 million. The deal involved the sale of licences, which were a key asset. The Roscrea plant is involved in the contract manufacturing of pharmaceutical products, particularly small volume injectable medicines for use in hospitals.

Miza Pharmaceuticals is a Canadian company founded by Dr Kachkar in 1996, which manufactures products for the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical industries. It has manufacturing plants in the US and UK as well as in Roscrea. Dr Kachkar is the majority shareholder in the company.

At the time of its takeover of Antigen Dr Kachkar said Miza intended investing €7.6 million in Roscrea over two to three years and would increase staff levels by 100.

How much of this investment actually occurred is not known.