Management at Miza Ireland, formerly Antigen, the debt-ridden medical components manufacturer, is locked in eleventh-hour negotiations with three US pharmaceuticals companies as it seeks to attract a buyer and avoid going into liquidation.
Earlier this week a British health care group unexpectedly pulled out of takeover talks, throwing the future of the Roscrea firm and its 250-strong workforce into doubt.
Senior figures at Miza, which was placed in administration in October with debts of €23 million, have persuaded the examiner Mr Tom Grace of PricewaterhouseCoopers to grant a temporary reprieve after the Goldshield Group announced it was calling off its acquisition plans.
They must find a buyer by Wednesday next, otherwise the High Court may place the company in liquidation.
The rescue effort is being led by a group of senior managers who have been appointed directors of the company.
Three US pharmaceutical contractors are understood to have been approached in recent days.
One has already toured the plant and a second is expected to arrive by the weekend. None of the three currently operates in the Republic. They are thought to be "second-tier" players in the pharmaceuticals sector, younger and smaller in scale than those already based here.
Goldshield executive chairman Mr Ajit Patel told The Irish Times that after careful deliberation he had concluded that Miza could not be turned into a profitable venture.
"It is very sad what has happened. Hopefully somebody can turn Miza around but we did not see a future. It was a painful decision for us to make, but we thought long and hard about it. We just felt the company's manufacturing side had declined too far."
Goldshield has a five-year deal with Miza to supply products to Britain's National Health Service. Should Miza be unable to fulfil the contract, Goldshield said it was confident it would find alternate suppliers.
The Roscrea facility was bought last year by Canadian-based Miza Pharmaceuticals and Goldshield for €35.3 million under a survival plan approved by the High Court. Goldshield also purchased Antigen's lucrative business and distribution division for €15.2 million.
Miza Pharmaceuticals was founded in Canada in 1996 and has plants in the US and the UK as well as in Ireland. Last year it acquired its British businesses from Canadian company CCL Industries for a reported €19 million. The Canadian company is believed to have been attempting to raise venture capital to develop its UK and Irish assets but the finance never materialised. The UK operation was brought under the protection of the courts in September.
In April Goldshield, which is quoted on the London Stock Exchange, announced that its premises and the home of Mr Patel had been visited by officers of the Serious Fraud Office as part of an inquiry into a suspected conspiracy to defraud the NHS.
The company said at the time it had not acted in an "unlawful or improper manner".
