Clarion Capital, a private equity group based in the United States, has bid for Waterford Wedgwood, the troubled Irish glassware and crockery group placed in administration last month. The group, which is being advised by John Foley, the former Waterford Crystal chief executive, put forward a “substantial” bid on Saturday night, officials said yesterday.

Martin Cullen, the Irish Republic’s Tourism Minister and MP for Waterford, where the group has its flagship crystal factory, yesterday told RTE, the state broadcaster: “My understanding is that before midnight last night they launched a substantial bid for the company.”

The news came as workers at the factory in Kilbarry, Co Waterford, prepared for a third night of protests after Deloitte, the administrator, said that the plant would close until a buyer could be found, with the loss of 480 jobs. About 200 staff are taking it in turns to hold a sit-in at the plant to prevent security staff from locking it up.

Union representatives, who addressed about 700 current and former employees at the plant yesterday, said that workers supported Clarion’s bid, which would keep manufacturing in the city and could save 300 jobs.

Jimmy Kelly, Irish regional secretary of the Unite union, said: “We are encouraged by the continued firm interest by Clarion Capital. They have lodged their bid and have outlined their plans to us of keeping manufacturing in the city and protecting the immediate livelihood of hundreds of workers and the future prospects for hundreds and thousands more.”

KPS Capital Partners, another American private equity group, had expressed interest in Waterford Wedgwood, but was understood to be interested in buying only its brand. Walter Cullen, of Unite, said that the KPS bid was no longer being considered. “The proposal that KPS had put forward to us in terms of retaining jobs here is now off the table,” he said. “They are only interested in the brand.”

Mr Cullen said that the protests indicated the workers’ determination. “This is more than a job, more than a plant,” he said. “It is a community built by generations of Waterford people.”

He added: “There is too much life and too much of a future for it to be put to the sword as the receiver attempted to do on Friday and Saturday by announcing the closure of the plant.”

Waterford Wedgwood, which owns Waterford Crystal, Wedgwood, the British potter, the Royal Doulton fine china business, and Rosenthal, the German porcelain maker, has 8,000 employees worldwide, including 1,900 in the UK, chiefly at its manufacturing operation at Barlaston, Stoke-on-Trent, and at retail stores. Nearly 370 workers at two UK subsidiaries have already lost their jobs.

The group’s sales have been hit by competition from Eastern Europe and Asia. Also, the euro’s strength against the dollar has made Waterford goods more expensive for Americans to buy.

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