INDUSTRIAL holding group James Crean hopes to find a buyer for its subsidiary company Inishtech within six months. However, Crean chief executive Mr Ray McLoughlin said the group was "under no pressure to do a deal".

Speaking after an extraordinary general meeting which approved the buyout of the minority shareholding of Inishtech, shareholders were told Crean now held 9.7 per cent of Inishtech shares and its offer was unconditional.

Despite building up a 100 per cent gearing as a result of the £26 million cost of buying out the Inishtech minorities, Mr McLoughlin said there was no question of Crean being a forced seller. He said Crean had already received eight or nine approaches about Inishtech from both Ireland and overseas. "I am very confident we will sell Inishtech, but it may take four to six months."

Clondalkin is understood to be one of the groups with which Crean has had informal discussions about Inishtech.

McLoughlin said he would prefer to sell Inishtech as a single unit and so would the Inishtech management, but he did not rule out selling individual Inishtech companies. "It all depends on what is the best price."

He added that Crean had not entered into exclusive negotiations with any single potential buyer of Inishtech but did not rule out some exclusivity arrangement at a later stage in the sale process. He would not be drawn on price: "We are effectively in a negotiation process.

Crean director Mr Martin Delaney has previously said there was "no reason why a pie of at least 12.5 (equivalent to Crean's 550p bid for the Inishtech minorities) would not be received".

This would value Inishtech at £90 million, compared to the £46 million Crean paid for the group between the original investment and the final buyout of the minority shareholdings.

Mr McLoughlin said the disposal of Inishtech would remove much of Crean's £100 million debt and make it a more focused and less diversified business.

Once Inishtech was sold, Crean would be ready to go back on the acquisition trail, he added.