Former Quinn companies to have Luxembourg parent

The divisions of the former Quinn Group that are back under the control of some of its former senior executives are ultimately owned by a Luxembourg parent company set up last month, official filings show.

The purchase of the businesses from the Aventas Group was funded by a €58.5 million agreement between certain lenders and the Irish-registered company Quinn Industrial Holdings Ltd (QIHL), according to a statutory declaration under section 60 of the Companies Act, filed recently by QIHL.

The lenders also put in place a revolving credit facility for an aggregate amount of €10 million, according to the document. The purchase from Aventas is also understood to involve bank debt, bringing the total involved to approximately €100 million. The packaging and construction supplies divisions of the former Quinn Group are now under the control of QIHL, the directors of which include Liam McCaffrey and Dara O’Reilly, long-time associates of the founder of the group, Séan Quinn. Just before Christmas Mr Quinn paid a visit to the group offices in Derrylin, Co Fermanagh. He is due to act as an adviser to the new owners.

Bondholders

Luxembourg company Quinn Industries Holdings Luxembourg Sarl is majority-owned by the three bondholders who are backing the deal and who owned 56 per cent of the businesses prior to the deal with Aventas by way of their previous investments in the Quinn Group.

As part of the agreement put in place to return control of the two divisions to former management, an Irish company called QBRC will see its shareholding in the venture increase over the coming years, if the bondholders get their money back.

The section 60 filing is signed by Mr O’Reilly, Mr McCaffrey, and non-executive director of QIHL, local Fine Gael councillor John McCartin, and states that they have formed the opinion that the transaction outlined in the document will allow QIHL “pay its debts in full as they become due”.

Section 60 is a provision governing the funding by a company of the purchase of its own shares. The QIHL transaction involved the Luxembourg company taking shares in QIHL. The bondholders involved, Brigade, Contrarian and Silver Point, are funding their involvement in the venture by way of subsidiaries owned by them in Luxembourg, which will take out shares in Quinn Industries Holdings Luxembourg Sarl.

The divisions under the control of QIHL employ approximately 700 people. The glass, plastics and other elements of the manufacturing activities of the former Quinn Group remain with Aventas. Mr Quinn’s family lost control of the group in 2011 to Anglo Irish Bank, and Mr Quinn was subsequently declared as bankrupt.