Finance minister could delay approval of Anglo Irish takeover

The Irish finance minister could delay a ruling on the sale of Quinn Insurance, the Irish Independent has reported.

Brian Lenihan has said he does not have a mandate to rule on the sale of EBS – meaning he is unlikely to approve the sale of Quinn, the paper speculates.

The Quinn sale was believed to be within a week of completion, but some now doubt whether Anglo Irish Bank will be able to get permission for its bid given the political situation.

Anglo, with US insurance giant Liberty Mutual, is proposing to put about €600m into Quinn to bring it back up to regulatory reserving levels.

Anglo hopes to use the cash thrown off by Quinn to pay off a €2.8bn debt owed by QIL founder Sean Quinn and his family. QIL's new owner will be selected by the insurer's administrator, but the Department of Finance, as Anglo's owner, must approve the bank's bid.

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