10 March/April 2022
T
his is a tale of greed, destruction, violence,
corruption and betrayal.
The Quinn Group business employing 7000
with profits of €500m/year has turned into a
husk of itself with only 800 employees and
meagre profits with its construction division scandal-
ously losing money. Conventional wisdom blames the
recklessness of Sean Quinn but there was a further
betrayal of the community that, reflecting national indif-
ference to the border counties, has gone untold.
Keep your eye on who was in charge as the Quinn
Group has disintegrated! The name of the Quinn Group
was changed to Aventas in 2013 to Quinn Industrial
Holdings in 2015 and to Mannok in 2020. Along the way
it sold o Quinn Glass, Quinn Plastics and Quinn Radia-
tors abroad. The sale of Quinn Packaging did not
complete.
However, the first big event that should detain us is
that on 30 March 2010, following an application by the
Central Bank of Ireland, the High Court appointed joint
provisional administrators to Quinn Insurance Limited,
“Quinn was our
champion when
the State
did nothing”
By Michael Smith
A Crossborder Community feels so betrayed that it’s issued legal
proceedings against the part successors to the Quinn Group - QBRC
The nme of he Quinn Group ws chnged o Avens
in 2013 o Quinn Indusril Holdings in 2015 nd o
Mnnok in 2020. Along he wy i sold off Quinn Glss,
Quinn Plsics nd Quinn Rdiors brod. The sle
of Quinn Pckging did no complee
the first manifestation of regulatory stringency that has
now been playing out for 12 years.
Then, in April 2011, a share receiver was appointed
over the whole Quinn Group, by Anglo Irish Bank Group
(then owned by the State), to which the Quinn Group
owed over €2.8 billion. A receiver took control of the
Quinn family’s equity interest in the Quinn Group (Quinn
had divested himself some years earlier), replacing
them with a board of outside professionals. This served
the interests of bondholders who now owned 25% but
had 75% voting right, with the balance held by the State.
Formerly the bondholders interest had been contingent
not a shareholding and they technically had no voting
rights.
That is the principal grievance of Sean Quinn – he
accepts that he had scandalously over-invested in con-
tracts for dierence (CFDs – suspended payments, i.e.
agreements to exchange the dierence in value of a
financial instrument between the time at which a con-
tract is opened and it is closed) but feels the situation
could have been salvaged if nerves in government had
been held and the bondholders not indulged.
The Quinn Group and its advisors considered it could
repay the €2.8 billion it owed including the €2.34 billion
it owed Anglo for share support. Others say that would
have depended on retaining institutional confidence
that he had done a great deal to lose.
Anglo and Quinn had been in discussions to avoid a
legal dispute over the way Quinn had supported Anglo’s
shares, with awareness from State regulators that the
State has disingenuously always tried to deny. But the
plug was pulled.
NEWS