SEAN Quinn is to leave the company he founded more than 40 years ago.

It's understood the one-time billionaire had been “playing for time” over the last week after making “tentative contact” with the management team of Quinn Industrial Holdings Limited amid a bitter feud and battle for power.

Mr. Quinn was recently issued with an ultimatum by the American owners of the Derrylin based company where he is currently employed as a consultant warning him that he faced having his €500,000 per year contract terminated following the dispute.

The financiers asked Mr. Quinn to withdraw his demand for an equity stake in the business, a seat on the board, allegations of impropriety against the management and to promote and engage with the senior staff in a constructive manner.

But in a statement to RTE, Mr. Quinn denied he had “sought a seat on the board of Quinn Industrial Holdings Limited or new equity in the company” and said that he was the subject of an orchestrated campaign which he said was designed to “discredit” him.

Now, in a major development in the last 24 hours, it has emerged that Mr. Quinn will in fact leave his former manufacturing business. His son Sean Junior, who is also a consultant at the business will leave too.

In an e-mail to staff in the last hour, the company said: "Following the acquisition of the businesses by Quinn Industrial Holdings Limited we entered into a consultancy agreement as a framework to facilitate Sean Quinn’s involvement in the businesses. We believed that this would enable us to benefit from the wealth of experience that Sean had built up since he founded the businesses and was a role intended both as a mark of respect for Sean and to assist in creating a unified sense of purpose in support of a local management team and local businesses that sustain local employment and prosperity.

"As time has progressed it has become evident that Sean’s expectations for his role and the ownership structure of QIHL are at odds with the strategic direction of the businesses.

"Accordingly, it has been mutually agreed between the parties that QIHL’s consultancy arrangement with Sean Quinn and Sean Quinn Junior will be discontinued, albeit Sean will have continued access to office facilities for his own personal use. The Board of QIHL is pleased that it has been possible to reach agreement on this matter and we were keen that staff should hear the news directly from the company."

In a statement in the last few minutes, Mr. Quinn said: "As has been well publicised, there have been commercial differences between me and the stakeholders arising from the recent restructuring of the company.

"I confirm that an agreement has now been reached with QBRC which creates a pathway for the Quinn family to potentially realise its ambitions over time. Arising from this positive development, I have agreed to stand aside from my contract with Quinn Industrial Holdings to facilitate that process."