The sale is linked to a process aimed at retrieving hundreds of millions of dollars in insurance money linked to a multibillion-dollar fraud by the group’s former owner, Greg Lindberg (55), court documents in the US show. A court order from two years ago cites a possible sale to TA Associates that would yield $415 million (€382 million) and says the sale was proposed by Lindberg and his Global Growth group of companies. In the event, it appears the business fetched closer to $450 million (€414 million).
The Dublin-based medtech group is a core target of officials appointed by the US courts to assert control over assets bought by Lindberg, a former insurance mogul, with the improper use of insurance money, according to court filings. Receivers have been appointed over Lindberg assets to fund compensation for the thousands of US policyholders whose insurers have been placed in receivership arising from Lindberg’s criminal actions. In March 2023, a judge in North Carolina approved the proposed sale of the Clanwilliam Group to TA Associates, and stipulated that Lindberg should not have “dominion” over any of the then estimated $415 million in sale proceeds.
The sale order by judge Graham Shirley of the superior court of justice in Wake County was necessary because the sale would otherwise have been in breach of a restraining order over the sale of Lindberg assets. The judge decided the sale should go ahead as it would be in the interest of the plaintiffs in the case. .
