There are two bids for Irish Fertilizer Industries (IFI), the loss-making company which is 51 per cent owned by the State and 49 per cent owned by the British chemicals company, ICI. The sale is likely to make £50 million (€63.5 million), at most, and an announcement is not expected for some weeks.
One bid is in the name of Grande Portage Ltd (GPL), of which Mr Declan Ganley is chief executive and Mr Phil Flynn is chairman. The other is from the Irish publicly-quoted company, IAWS, in conjunction with Kemira, the Finnish international chemical group. IAWS owns the Gouldings fertiliser group. The sale is being handled by Investment Bank of Ireland.
Grande Portage Resources plc, which is quoted on the Vancouver stock exchange, is a shareholder in the GPL bid, along with Ganley International, the equity arm of a US bank, and some private equity investors.
Mr Ganley has an interest in Grande Portage Resources, which was formerly a "shell public company" on the Vancouver exchange.
IFI recorded losses of £10.6 million for the year ending September, 1998. The losses were connected to a sharp fall in fertiliser prices on international markets. The company has 40 per cent of the Irish and 4.5 per cent of the European market. It employs 630 people in Cork, Arklow and Belfast.
The sale of IFI was prompted by ICI's decision last year to realise its shareholding following the disposal of its fertiliser interests in Britain. The Government and ICI are likely to have a different approach to the sale, with the former likely to be concerned about keeping as many jobs as possible after the sale, and ICI expected to want to sell to the highest bidder.
IAWS is a profitable public company involved in farm inputs and food, including flour and baking. Kemira is based in Finland and operates in 36 countries worldwide.
Grande Portage is understood to have put forward a detailed bid including plans to develop the IFI business and maintain the jobs at Arklow, Cork and Belfast. The presence of heavyweight backing from US banks is also a supporting factor for the bid.
The IAWS-Kemira bid, on the other hand, can argue that the presence of Kemira creates an opportunity for IFI to become part of an international chemicals and fertiliser group with a strong record and worldwide interests.
