Waterford Wedgwood Files for Bankruptcy

Waterford Wedgwood Files for Bankruptcy
January 06, 2009

Dublin, Ireland-based china and crystal maker Waterford Wedgwood PLC has filed for bankruptcy protection after attempts to restructure the struggling business or find a buyer failed, according to the Associated Press. Four administrators from business advisory firm Deloitte were appointed to run the company's businesses in Britain and Northern Ireland, while a Deloitte partner in the Irish Republic was appointed as receiver of Waterford Wedgwood PLC and its other Irish subsidiaries. The U.K. joint administrators said they intended to continue to run the business as they seek a buyer. Trading in the company's shares was suspended on the Irish Stock Exchange, where they languished at just one-tenth of a euro cent. Waterford Wedgwood, which employs about 7,700 worldwide, is the latest in a burgeoning list of iconic British companies to succumb to the global economic slowdown and credit squeeze. The Deloitte administrators said the company has "benefited from significant shareholder support" in recent years as the management team tried to restructure the business. "However, as trading conditions deteriorated, it became apparent that a restructuring of the businesses could not be achieved in an acceptable timescale," they said in a statement. A subsequent alternative strategy to find a buyer also failed, they added.

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