PLANS ARE in place to make Ted Kelly, the Armagh-born chairman and chief executive of US insurer Liberty Mutual, non-executive chairman of Quinn Insurance should its joint bid for the firm with Anglo Irish Bank succeed.
Mr Kelly, who is originally from Derrynoose, near Keady in Co Armagh, is keen to take an active role in the running of the troubled insurer, according to sources familiar with the takeover plans.
David Long, president of Liberty Mutual’s international business division, will also play a key role in Quinn Insurance if the acquisition proceeds.
The aim of Mr Kelly’s appointment to the board of Quinn Insurance would be to reassure local workers of the Boston-based insurer’s commitment to the firm and intentions to grow the business.
State-owned Anglo and Liberty have submitted a joint bid to acquire Quinn Insurance out of administration. Swiss insurer Zurich is also among the final bidders for the Cavan-based company, which is owned by the family of businessman Seán Quinn.
Australian merchant bank Macquarie is running the sale process for the joint administrators of the insurer, Michael McAteer and Paul McCann of Grant Thornton.
The sale of the company must be approved by Minister for Finance Michael Noonan. The National Treasury Management Agency has assessed Anglo’s offer.
Under its joint-venture proposal, Liberty would take operational control of the insurer but Anglo and the US firm would take joint ownership to recover as much of the bank’s €2.8 billion in loans due from the Quinn family.
The offer by Anglo-Liberty to acquire Quinn Insurance does not involve the company’s founder Seán Quinn, who has submitted an alternative plan involving the recapitalisation of the insurer with €650 million in State support.
Any Anglo bid would involve a restructuring of the Quinn Group, the manufacturing business run by Mr Quinn which owes banks and bondholders €1.3 billion.
The bank and Liberty will inject fresh capital into Quinn Insurance’s reserves to improve the company’s solvency, while guarantees offered by the insurer’s subsidiaries to the Quinn Group lenders will also be settled in the process.
