US fund invests €50m in Waterford Wedgwood

Waterford Wedgwood has announced that New York private equity fund Corporate Partners II has invested €50 million in the company.

The investment follows lengthy negotiations which started following a shares sale first announced on April 5th last.

Corporate Partners, a fund of Lazard Alternative Investments LLC, has subscribed for five million cumulative convertible preference shares.

Ali E Wambold, chief executive officer of Lazard, and Jonathan H Kagan, a managing principal of Corporate Partners, are to join the Waterford board.

The Corporate Partners fund concentrates on what it says are investments that act as a catalyst to enhancing the value of an enterprise.

In April, Waterford announced its intention to raise €100 million by way of an open offer of preference shares and a possible further €100 million.

The first €100 million was placed by the end of July, with approximately €83 million coming from the chairman, Sir Anthony O'Reilly, and the deputy chairman, Peter John Goulandris.

With the Lazard investment and a further €17 million from the chairman and deputy chairman, the total raised to date is €167 million.

"The company is in early discussions to place the remaining €33 million," a spokesman said, with this amount being underwritten by Birchfield Holdings Ltd, a company owned by the chairman and deputy chairman.

The troubled luxury goods group lost €29 million in the first half of this year and in November announced its decision to cut production at its Irish plant, with the loss of 490 of the 1,000 jobs there.

Chief executive John Foley said then that the group was likely to outsource the manufacturing of loss-making products, including giftware, light fittings and vases, to locations in Slovenia, Germany or other European countries.

Sir Anthony said yesterday the investment by Lazard represented a "significant endorsement of our company's strategy." He said the two new directors would be a "valuable addition".