How one man's global businesses disappeared in a day!
Rodney Edwards • Published 21 Apr 2011 13:30
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HE is the man famed for his rags-to-riches story; a man who built up a huge empire, racked up a billion pound fortune and provided thousands of jobs to people in Fermanagh and across the world. A man who, for generations, has always been lauded as our county's most successful and wealthiest entrepreneurs who came from humble beginnings in Derrylin and went on to become one of Ireland's richest men.
But Sean Quinn was stripped off his entire global empire last week in dramatic scenes after the Anglo Irish Bank stepped in to curb spiralling debts of over four billion euro.
The 63-year-old has lost everything from hotels and manufacturing companies to insurance firms and wind farms, and all because he took the biggest gamble of his life when he bought a 28 per cent stake in Anglo Irish Bank in 2008 just before the credit crunch hit.
His shares in the troubled bank, which is now owned by the Irish Government, are now worthless and the huge loans he used to buy them have yet to be repaid to Anglo, who are now looking for their money back. Last week a Share Receiver was appointed to take control of the shares of the Quinn Group because of the huge debts and Anglo's apparent frustrations at the 'pace of refinancing talks' between them and Quinn.
It's understood Quinn, who was once worth five billion euro was unable to repay 2.8 billion in loans owed to Anglo Irish, as well as 1.2 billion in debts to other lenders.
In just one day Anglo stripped Quinn of everything he owed and the fairytale was over for the man who spent 40 years always wanting more.
Now he hasn't even access to the company's buildings or any of its army of employees, the bank is in control of the empire, new directors have taken over and there's a new Chief Executive in 43-year-old Paul O'Brien. Some have described the move as a complete 'regime change' by an army of bankers and legal teams. Quinn himself has described it as a "life sentence".
According to reports, the businessman's spectacular fall from grace last Thursday was planned with near-military precision.
24 hours previously, a phone call was placed with Sean Quinn's office summoning him to a meeting in Dublin the next morning at 9.30am following discussions between banks, law firms and debt advisers in London, New York and Dublin. As Quinn made the journey to Dublin seemingly oblivious to what was going on it is believed he passed the convoy that was making its way to Derrylin to take control of his business.
Quinn met Anglo executives in Dublin where he was informed that his £2.5 billion loans needed paid and his time as boss was up, just as administrators of Quinn Insurance announced that Anglo and Liberty Mutual were to take control of the company, which has an office in Enniskillen. The seriousness of the situation for him was starting to emerge.
Speaking to this newspaper, one Quinn employee in Derrylin said there was a "surreal" atmosphere in the building on Thursday. He revealed how a black van with southern number plates arrived at the office and out jumped several men in suits. Moments later numerous meetings were called and several e-mails were sent out to all staff informing them of the developments.
In an e-mail to Quinn employees, board members said they understood that the removal of Sean Quinn was a "prerequisite" of the restructuring for the lenders due to a "loss of confidence".
A restructuring plan was announced which aims to safeguard jobs for at least five years and relieve the manufacturing side of the group of some 500 million euro of debt.
It's understood Quinn is now seeking legal action in an attempt to claw back his empire following one of the most dramatic stories to emerge from the recession ever. Though, there is some doubt over whether or not such a move would be successful or welcomed.
His supporters say their man - who turned a £100 loan in 1973 into a multi million pound global empire - fell victim of the credit crunch, others say he got too greedy. But one things for sure - the once mighty Quinn is no more.
Quinn Insurance jobs in Enniskillen are considered 'safe' under new joint owners
JOBS at Quinn Insurance in Enniskillen appear to be safe for now following the announcement that Liberty Mutual and Anglo Irish Bank are to take over the crisis hit company.
The Boston-based Insurer and the troubled bank were named the preferred bidders last week at the same time it was revealed that Sean Quinn and his family had lost complete control of their empire.
It follows over 12 months of uncertainty for the company and its many workers. While employees here can breath a sign of relief, those who work in Quinn Insurance in Navan and Manchester can not as their offices are to close and 30 of them are to be offered redundancy.
Joint administrators Michael McAteer and Paul McCann said Anglo Irish Bank would have no involvement in the day-to-day operation of the new company, but would act in a loan recovery capacity.
On the same day as this announcement, hundreds of Quinn employees from Fermanagh travelled to Dublin to hand Financial Regulator Matthew Elderfield a petition with over 90,000 signatures calling for the Insurance company to remain in the hands of Sean Quinn. Little did they know their man was about to lose the lot.
Ulster Unionist leader Tom Elliott has welcomed the fact there would be no job losses in Enniskillen.
"Obviously very detailed discussions and negotiations have taken place to get to this point. I trust the process will move to a quick conclusion and allow the company to move forward in a very positive manner," he said.
SDLP MLA Tommy Gallagher commented: "Whilst it will be widely welcomed that there will be no job losses in this area, everybody hopes that the wider Quinn Group will continue to operate at full capacity".
Outgoing Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster said the announcement was "a shock" and revealed there had been no discussion with Ministers in Northern Ireland before the decision was made public.
"The announcement that jobs are safe have given people confidence. As the outgoing economy minister, I am going to work to make sure that is the case with Liberty [Mutual]. We have concerns at the manner in which it happened. The fact that Sean Quinn and the people around him were taken unawares. The Quinn family did build all of this up from basically nothing. We have such a small economy and are so reliant on big employers like Quinn," she said.
Sinn Fein's Phil Flanagan say there is a need to put pressure on the Irish Government to keep their promises of no job losses in the county, and he paid tribute to Sean Quinn's vision: "Without his investment none of what he achieved for Fermanagh would have been possible. His like may never be seen again," he said.
Meanwhile, the Employee Representative Committee in Quinn Insurance say they are delighted at the takeover.
In a statement, they said: "We sincerely regret the closure of the Manchester office and the loss of our colleagues' jobs. However we are happy that the matter has now progressed and we look forward to a successful future with the company.
"The past year of uncertainty has been a difficult time for all concerned and we are delighted that we have now reached the goal of securing the jobs within the company. We would like to thank all our Policyholders who remained loyal to us during the last year and we look forward to continuing to provide them with a first class service as we grow our company".
Emotional Quinn acknowledges support of family
"Sean was upset and very distressed; it was an emotional meeting. Everything he had worked for was crumbling before his eyes and he knew it".
A close source at crunch talks between Sean Quinn and politicians 24 hours after the Fermanagh businessman lost his empire says he watched the former billionaire fight back tears as he admitted he had made mistakes.
"Sean Quinn arrived with his management team. It was an emotional meeting. He thanked the politicians for the work they did over the last year and he talked about the workers. He was anxious for the future of the industry in Fermanagh and Cavan and asked the politicians to do everything they could to help. He was very upset and felt he had been left high and dry," said our source.
In a statement on Monday night, Sean Quinn said he had been hit with a "life sentence" after being stripped of his huge business.
"The decision by Anglo last week to appoint share receivers was the greatest upset for me and my family in my entire business career. My colleagues and I have spent the past year developing a proposal that is economically sustainable and which would allow us to discharge fully all of our family's obligations to the Irish taxpayer," he said.
During this process, Quinn says he consulted with and secured the support of some of the most "respected and experienced individuals" in Irish and UK business. "I am utterly convinced that our proposal could achieve the retention and increase of skilled employment in the Group," he added.
The entrepreneur insisted he could pay back billions owed to the Irish state if left in control of his company because the Quinn Group businesses "are among the best and most progressive in the world". And he claimed the Quinn Group would create more jobs if he and his family were left in charge.
"Our mistake was to place an over reliance on the Irish banking system and the many predictions for continued sustained growth in the Irish economy from some of the country's leading financial services experts," he said.
Quinn also paid tribute to customers, staff, family and friends.
"There is no work force anywhere that has the talent, commitment, loyalty and determination of the Quinn work force. They have created and sustained skilled employment in regions where this was not seen as possible before. At this time my concerns are for those who have made such an enormous contribution to the success of the Group.
"I would like to acknowledge the support of my family. The Irish family unit is quite unique for support, loyalty and compassion. Despite all that has happened I am fortunate to have the most wonderful family and it has been their steadfast support that has sustained me during a most difficult time," he said.
Repeated requests for an interview with The Impartial Reporter were turned down this week by representatives close to Sean Quinn.
A massive dump truck caused chaos at Quinn Group headquarters in Derrylin after it was abandoned in front of the company's main entrance.
Workers arriving early on Monday were unable to move the vehicle as it was remained wedged up against a traffic bollard.
And hours before staff arrived, police equipped with guns cornered off the whole area around the machine fearing there was something untoward going on.
It's thought the culprit was spotted on the company's CCTV. Enniskillen police have confirmed they are investigating the incident.
This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 21 Apr 11
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