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Business Editor
SEAN Quinn has made his goal of acquiring back Quinn Industrial Holdings (QIH), an impossibility despite being given “every opportunity” to play an increased role in the business, according to a source close to the US investors in the group.
“At the outset of this process we had significant respect for what Sean had achieved. He built a worldclass business and assembled a very strong management team over his 40-year tenure,” said the source. “He had an opportunity to play a constructive and increasing role in a business he established and incomprehensibly Mr Quinn chose repeatedly to go in a counter-productive direction.”
Three American funds, Contrarian Capital, Brigade Capital and Silver Point, own a majority stake in the company after buying the former cement and concrete business of the Quinn Group from the receiver in 2014.
It is understood that investors set an explicit condition that Mr Quinn could not have a management role or ownership stake in the business given his ongoing legal issues, his ill-fated investment in Anglo Irish Bank and the resulting collapse of the Quinn Group.
However, management at the company and others strongly advocated that Mr Quinn should have a role in the business.
“It had been hoped the €600,000 annual consultancy arrangement — €500,000 a year to Sean Quinn and €100,000 a year to Sean Quinn Jnr — would be beneficial to the business, but it soon became clear that Sean’s expectations for QIH were at odds with the investors and the management team’s,” said the source.
“Throughout this period Sean was given every opportunity to take a more constructive path but failed to do so and in May 2016 the board and Sean Quinn mutually agreed to terminate his and Sean Jnr’s consultancy agreement,” the investor group source told the Sunday Independent.
He added that “he has made his ultimate goal of acquiring this business an impossibility. His unfounded public allegations and meetings were unproductive and inconsistent with the constructive engagement of all other stakeholders.”
The source also said that the company is performing extremely well, that close to €50m has been invested in the business and that 200 jobs have been added in a region with few other major employers.
“The business has seen significant progress against every metric. QIH now employs more people and is better invested than at any time in its history. It has seen a fourth successive year of strong double-digit growth with turnover up 50pc since its acquisition in 2014,” added the source.
The investor group source paid tribute to Kevin Lunney, who was recently the subject of an assault, management and staff at the company.
“It’s been a challenging environment and staff and management have shouldered the brunt of that. We have seen exceptional leadership, resilience and restraint from management and staff,” he said.
“The investors have enormous respect for their courage, commitment and dignity and the manner in which they have conducted themselves in the face of provocation, intimidation and criminality.
“Generally, our prime focus is investment performance, but frankly in this instance our key concern has been for the safety and security of staff.
“With Kevin’s abduction and the outstanding threat to lives of the directors, the investors are deeply concerned to ensure that law and order is restored so that QIH staff can live and work free from fear and intimidation.
“The investors are encouraged at the recent escalation in response by the authorities and will continue to appraise the situation as matters unfold.”
When asked about the future of the company and if the investors had considered selling the business, the source said: “QIH is a strongly performing business, but future investment and scope to evolve the ownership structure will remain compromised until those behind the campaign are brought to justice.”