Administrators wait to see if they can sell off collapsed crystal and china
maker Waterford Wedgwood.

WATERFORD, REPUBLIC OF IRELAND ITN -
Three potential buyers on Tuesday (January 6) were said to be eyeing
up parts of the collapsed crystal and china maker Waterford Wedgwood.
According to British newspaper The Financial Times, three US parties
are in discussion with Deloitte, the administrator of Waterford's UK business
and the receiver in Ireland. The talks centre around the sale of the
"majority of the assets", the paper reported.

Earlier on Monday, the owner of British potter Wedgwood, founded 250
years ago by Josiah Wedgwood -- one of the fathers of the industrial
revolution -- and whose tea and dinner services have graced royal tables ever
since, had warned in December that it would not be able to pay interest to
bondholders.

The global financial crisis and ensuing economic slowdown has already
claimed a raft of casualties in the British retail sector, including
Woolworths, which is set to close this week with the loss of 27,000 jobs.
Waterford Wedgwood said a grace period given by its lenders had expired
and not been renewed, but it remained optimistic an investor would save the
group, whose stable of brands also includes Royal Doulton, known for its fine
china tableware and figurines.

The group has some 8,000 employees worldwide, including 1,900 working
in manufacturing and retail in the United Kingdom and 800 in Ireland. It also
employs 1,000 workers at Germany-based porcelain maker Rosenthal.