The Cork-based construction and engineering group Bowen Holdings is paying an initial £3 million (€3.8 million) and up to a further £2.27 million in deferred payments for Arthur Ring & Sons, the subsidiary of IFG Group which manufactures roller shutters.

The actual deferred payment is linked to Ring's profits in the five years between 1999 and 2003, with IFG entitled to 50 per cent of Ring's pre-tax profits in those years up to the maximum of £2.28 million. In the year to December 1998, Ring had sales of just more than £11 million and pre-tax profits of £450,680.

Arthur Ring & Sons has been part of the IFG Group for many years and has been part of IFG's investment division, which holds minority stakes in various companies and is a quasiventure capital operation. In contrast to the minority investments, IFG has wholly-owned Ring. As well as Arthur Ring, the sale to Bowen includes Ring's interest in two BES companies, Ultra Manufacturing and Ring-Shield Manufacturing.