A potential purchaser has been identified for a Shannon based pharmaceutical company that was placed in provisional liquidation by The High Court.
Avara Pharma Group which manufactures active drug ingredients, in particular for use in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease, for pharmaceutical companies has a workforce of 115 at the Shannon Free Zone.
Last week, the High Court has placed the company in provisional liquidation after hearing that it was insolvent with debts of €9.5 million a year, and that it was unable to pay its employees. KPMG’s Shane McCarthy and London based insolvency practitioner Edwin Kirker were appointed as joint provisional liquidators to the company by the High Court.
SIPTU representatives have met with the liquidators as part of the thirty day consultation period.
On Monday evening, Clare TD Joe Carey confirmed to The Clare Echo that a potential Asian buyer has emerged. The Fine Gael deputy maintained an agreement on redundancy payments should form part of any deal with prospective buyers.
“Now that a potential buyer is in the frame, I am anxious to ensure that both they and the liquidator will give due attention to the 115 workers whose livelihoods are at stake. Although they knew there were issues with the company, they were shocked when it went in to liquidation without any certainty about redundancy payments. While the retention of as many jobs as possible should be the main priority, the workers are anxious that the issue of redundancy should be addressed in any future talks with prospective purchasers,” Carey outlined.
