WATERFORD Wedgwood Plc, the money-losing Irish crystal maker, was placed into receivership and had its shares suspended after managers failed to find a buyer.

David Carson of Deloitte Ireland was appointed as receiver to Waterford and some of its Irish subsidiaries, the Dublin-based company said yesterday in a Regulatory News Service statement. Joint administrators at Deloitte LLP were expected to be appointed to the United Kingdom company and some of its units yesterday.

The crystal maker, hurt by competition from Asian rivals and the United States dollar's drop against the euro, has posted five years of losses, Bloomberg News said.

The company has raised about 400 million euros (US$557 million) over four years through share sales to fund job cuts and factory closings. It had about 8,000 employees last year.