IRISH BATHROOM products manufacturer Qualceram has ended talks with a potential buyer about the takeover of the company due to the downturn in the UK and Irish construction markets.

Qualceram said in March that it had received "an unsolicited preliminary expression of interest from a third party".

Along with Davy Corporate Finance it said it had held thorough and detailed discussions with a number of potentially interested parties regarding an offer for the company's entire share capital.

However, yesterday it said that the position of potential buyers and current valuation levels have been negatively impacted by the continued deterioration in the UK and Irish construction markets, the general downturn in the economy, credit market conditions and uncertainty surrounding a recovery in key markets.

"These factors have restricted the ability of the parties who expressed an initial interest in making an offer for the company, and with whom the board has engaged during the last five months, to make acceptable offers," it said.

"As a result, the board is terminating the process and Qualceram can confirm that it has ended discussions with potential buyers."

The company did not name its potential suitor, but it was understood to have been a trade buyer from outside Ireland.

One of the biggest shareholders in Qualceram is Ward Anderson, the cinema company co-owned by Kevin Anderson and Leo Ward, which increased its stake in Qualceram to 12.3 per cent last May though its Torgyle Holdings investment vehicle. However, sources say that Ward Anderson was not one of the parties with which Qualceram held talks.

Irish-based and Dublin-listed Qualceram has businesses in Ireland and Britain, where it owns Shires, the bathroom and toilet fittings manufacturer.