Fermanagh building products firm sold for €330m

Mannok currently employs around 800 people

Mannok, the County Fermanagh-based building products firm, is being bought by Turkish conglomerate Sabanci Holdings for €330m (£278m).

The local Mannok leadership team will retain a 5.3% shareholding in the business.

It was formerly a part of the Quinn Group of companies and was acquired in December 2014 by an investor group when Sean Quinn’s business empire crashed into insolvency.

In the years since Mr Quinn lost control of the business it has been subject to a campaign of sabotage.

Its directors suffered escalating intimidation and violence which culminated in the kidnap and torture of Kevin Lunney in 2019.

Mr Quinn has repeatedly condemned the violence, including the attack on Mr Lunney, and said he had no involvement in it.

Sabanci is a global conglomerate which employs over 60,000 people in 14 countries across five continents.

The deal is being done via its Cimsa division, which specialises in building materials.

The Mannok brand will be retained as the new owners seek to grow the business.

The company currently employs around 800 people in the manufacturing of cement and other quarry products, concrete, insulation materials and packaging.

'A new era'

Umut Zenar, chief executive of Cimsa, said the agreement "marks the beginning of a new era for Mannok".

"At Cimsa our model is to back great local businesses and management and we look forward to creating new employment opportunities in the region," he said.

Mannok chief executive Dara O’Reilly added: “At this stage of our development, securing a long term, strategic, well capitalised owner of scale, is the right move for Mannok and we look forward to working with our new colleagues at Sabanci."

He thanked the investor group, led by Brigade Capital Management, for their "unstinting and collegiate support as majority owners of the business over the past decade".