Aventas to sell roof-tile business to Lagan

Former Quinn Group, now rebranded Aventas Manufacturing Group have confirmed its Building Products division has signed an agreement which will see it sell its roof-tile business in Derrylin to rival Lagan Cement Products.

The sale is subject to regulatory approval, however it is expected to wrapped up in the coming months.

A statement from Aventas management to The Anglo-Celt explained the deal, saying that Lagan currently has an existing smaller roof-tile plant in Belfast.

The company says Lagan “can utilise the additional capacity which the Derrylin plant will provide.

“This, in turn, provides continuity of employment for people in the Derrylin plant”, the statement read.

There are currently 17 employees at the plant.

The move though has been greeted with great scepticism by local lobbying group, Concerned Irish Citizens who say the sale is an 'act of sabotage”, adding that the campaign group continues to have “deep concerns” at how the former Quinn Group businesses are being run.

A spokesperson for CIC likened today's announcement to sell the roof-tile business as being akin to that of a “car boot sale”, further calling for the appointment of “someone who has appropriate manufacturing experience and genuine commitment to the area”.

At an absolute minimum, there should be local input into the decision making and running of the company. Along with Sean Quinn, it was the local people who built the Quinn Group and took pride in its unprecedented success.”

It is not the first time Quinn companies and Lagan have entered the news together, after it was announced in late 2012 they were to enter into a joint venture regarding their respective cement businesses.

However, the pair decided in February 2013 not to proceed with the proposed deal, with recently Aventas Group CEO Paul O'Brien being quoted as saying any such future deal with Lagan was 'dead' and 'off the table'.

The sale of the roof tile business to Lagan comes less than a month after management at Aventas invited collected media to unveil its plans to begin work on its €16m Solid Recovered Fuel (SRF) unit at the Ballyconnell-based cement plant.

This newspaper was contacted by a spokesperson acting on behalf of Lagan late Tuesday afternoon to say the company would be making 'no comment' in relation to the purchase agreement for Quinn Roof-tile business.

The move is expected to created an estimated 100 jobs in construction phase, and the significant investment sees the plant move towards use more environmentally friendly, cost-effective alternative fuels.