Liberty and AIB close in on Quinn Insurance

Quinn Insurance could face the prospect of a rebrand following the acceptance of the joint Liberty Mutual/Anglo Irish Bank bid and the ousting of Sean Quinn from the parent Quinn Group.

The Liberty/AIB joint venture was named the preferred bidder for Quinn Insurance on Thursday. No other offers for the insurer will now be considered. Rival bidders were thought to include the Quinn family and Zurich.

Under the Liberty/AIB bid, Liberty will be wholly responsible for the operation of the joint venture and the majority partner. AIB would have no involvement in the day-to-day operation of the new company, and would act in a loan recovery capacity.

All 1,570 Quinn staff in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland will transfer to the joint venture. Before the joint venture takes control, Quinn will centralise all its Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland offices in Cavan, Enniskillen and Blanchardstown. The head office will remain in Cavan.

The insurer’s Navan and Manchester sites will close prior to completion of the deal. All 100 staff in Navan will relocate to either Blanchardstown or Cavan depending on their current role.

The Manchester staff of around 30 will be offered redundancy. All affected staff will be consulted on this process, the company said.

The companies are aiming to finalise the deal details in the next four to six weeks, with completion expected 12 to 14 weeks thereafter.

Quinn’s administrators and Liberty Mutual declined to comment.