Unidare has agreed to sell its US business and is seeking to dispose of its British division with a view to winding up the 58-year-old company, one of the oldest on the Irish stock market.
The engineering group said yesterday that it had agreed the sale of ORS Nasco, its US wholesale distribution business, for $81 million (€69 million), or $67 million after debts of $14 million, to a Dallas-based private investment firm.
The group plans to use the proceeds of the sale to return €53 million, or €2.60 per share, to shareholders in late February.
However, this is subject to shareholder approval of the disposal and the grant of a High Court order approving a capital reduction.
Once ORS is sold, Unidare, which disposed of its Dutch heating business last July, will consist of just one operating subsidiary, a UK cable company, Eland.
The company is currently in talks about selling Eland, which reported an operating profit of £700,000 (€1 million) in the year ended September on sales of £15.7 million.
Sources close to the company said that it was hoping to conclude a deal "within weeks rather than months".
"Should the disposal of ORS Nasco and Eland take place, it is the board's intention to seek shareholders' approval for the winding up of the company and the distribution of any remaining assets to shareholders," Unidare said.
Earlier this year, the group distributed €2.40 per share to shareholders, following the sale of the Dutch business. Depending on how much Unidare gets for Eland, analysts believe that shareholders are in line for a further payout of between 35 and 50 cent per share.
Unidare has cash of around €6.5 million on its balance sheet, while Eland is estimated to be worth in the region of £4 million.
The beneficiaries of the cash distribution will include Dermot Desmond, who owns 26.6 per cent of the company through his investment vehicle Beechworth International.
The payout will be worth around €13.7 million to Mr Desmond, who acquired the bulk of his stake for around €2.40 in 1999.
Kappa Alpha, the investment company run by Ray French and which bought Unidare shares for as little as €1.00, stands to receive around €5.3 million.
Unidare, which began life as Aberdare Electric Company in 1947, has had a chequered history, having announced a string of profit warnings through the 1990s as it struggled in a cyclical business.
Analysts said yesterday that the decision to sell off the remains of the company came as little surprise, following the disposal of Daalderop, the "jewel in the crown", earlier this year.
"They've basically asset-stripped the business from the inside," one company observer noted.
"It was always a fairly disparate company with no real synergies between the Dutch, UK and US businesses."
Unidare also announced results for the year ended September 30th yesterday.
The company posted a 21 per cent increase in operating profits to €12.1 million on sales of €223 million.
Shares in Unidare closed unchanged last night at €2.80.
