Dear Reader,
You are receiving this mail every week as we see you as a key partner and we look forward to continuing to enjoy our journey with you over the decades ahead.
Please find below this week’s newsletter covering the latest M&A, company performance, fundraisings and executive moves.
Deal Details: Applegreen has conditionally acquired a 40% stake in 23 on-highway services plazas in Connecticut, US for c. €33.6m.
Irish-headquartered Applegreen was established in 1992 by CEO Bob Etchingham and COO Joe Barrett with just one service station in Ballyfermot. It has continually expanded to now 483 sites and 10,700 employees in Ireland, UK and America.
The service plaza business acquired in the US is located on three heavily trafficked routes, which are the main Interstate routes between New York City and Boston Massachusetts.
The transaction, subject to Connecticut Department of Transportation approval and pending satisfaction of this condition, is expected to be completed by Q3 2019.
Advisers: None mentioned
Renatus Comment: Applegreen has been a great case study for the benefit of listing. Some founders took money off, staff got shares, they can go to the market for growth opportunities as needed and they continue to grow internationally.
Source: Stockmarket Wire
Deal Details: Taoglas, a Wexford-headquartered company that designs and makes high-tech antennae, has acquired Dublin-based Firmwave for an undisclosed sum.
Established in 2004, Taoglas is focused on next-generation technologies in 5G, the internet of things (IoT), and satellite navigation. Led by directors Dermot O’Shea and Ronan Quinlan, the company has facilities in Dublin, Enniscorthy, Taiwan, the US, Germany and China and employs c. 300 people.
Firmwave, an IoT product design and engineering company, was founded in 2015 by Adrian Burns, Ciaran Burns and Fintan McGovern. The company has developed IOT/AI and machine learning solutions for customers including Vodafone and Glen Dimplex through its Edge technology platform.
Advisers: Will Darmody of Maples Group provided Firmwave with legal advise.
Renatus Comment: The last publicly available accounts for Taoglas showed it posted strong increases in sales and operating profit in 2017, a period when it shipped 14.5m antennae globally.
Turnover rose by 29% to €44.6m in the year with operating profit increasing by 7.7% to just under €4.4m.
Firmwave is a success story for both DCU alpha accelerator and the Guinness Enterprise Centre.
Source: Taoglas
Deal Details: Adventus Mining Corporation has sold its Lismore, Millstreet and Charleville exploration projects in Ireland to Australian exploration company BMEx Ltd.
Under the transaction, BMEx has issued 2,650,000 ordinary shares to Adventus, subject to additional shares being issued to Adventus if BMEx does not complete its planned initial public offering and listing on the Australian Securities Exchange by the beginning of December.
BMEx is an exploration group primarily focused on zinc projects in Australia and Ireland
Toronto-based Adventus, which is largely focused on exploration projects in Ecuador, has retained its Rathkeale and Kingscourt exploration project interests in Ireland.
Advisers: Denis Silva and Tara Amiri of Gowling WLG (Vancouver) advised Adventus on legal side.
Renatus Comment:
For all our hopes of near off-shore oil finds there are still a number of natural resources inland that are worth mining.
Source: Adventus
Deal Details: Diageo has announced the acquisition of a significant majority shareholding in the worlds first non-alcoholic spirits brand Seedlip for an undisclosed sum.
Seedlip was launched by Ben Branson in 2015 and now has a presence in more than 25 countries. Seedlip’s three variants (Spice 94, Garden 108 and Grove 42) are stocked in over 7,500 of the world’s best bars, restaurants, hotels and retailers.
In June 2016, Seedlip received a minority investment from the Diageo-backed accelerator programme Distill Ventures. Independently run, Distill Ventures receives funding from Diageo to support entrepreneurs as they launch and grow innovative drinks brands.
Advisers: None mentioned
Source: Diageo
Connolly Bros. Car Sales acquisition of Langtonville Limited
Deal Details: The proposed acquisition by Connolly Bros. Car Sales (Ballybrit) Limited of certain assets of Langtonville Limited, trading as Hyundai Galway, has been cleared by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission.
Source: CCPC
We in Renatus believe that more important than the deals are the people and we have teamed up with leaders in this field Korn Ferry to provide you details of key recent executive and board level appointments
Open Orphan appoints new independent Director
Former Horizon Pharma executive David Kelly has joined the board of Open Orphan plc as its new independent non-executive director. Mr Kelly has significant experience in the orphan drug space having, along with his colleagues, transformed AGI Therapeutics before selling it to Vidara Therapeutics which in turn was acquired by Horizon plc. Venn shareholders recently approved the reverse takeover of Venn Life Sciences Holdings PLC by Open Orphan. Since then, Open Orphan is well on the way of developing one of Europe’s leading orphan pharma services companies.
Ad agency Company of Huskies appoints new Strategy Director
Jane Madden has been appointed as strategy director with the Dublin-based agency In the Company of Huskies. Madden has over 20 years of experience both in Ireland and the US. She will lead the strategy team and play a pivotal role to deliver strategic brand and communication solutions. She began her career in San Francisco working for Goodby Silverstein & Partners, before returning to Ireland to work with a number of different agencies including McCann Erickson, Publicis Dublin and more recently Vizeum, where she was head of strategy for the past four years.
Salesforce Appoints CEO for Ireland & UK
Salesforce has appointed a CEO for Ireland & UK. Jayne-Anne Gadhia will lead the global CRM company through its next stage of growth in the region. Ms Gadhia was previously CEO of Virgin Money from 2007 to 2018.
Fidelis names new Chief Executive and Chief Underwriting Officer in Ireland
Fidelis Insurance Holdings Limited, which in late 2018 got the go-ahead to establish its post-Brexit hub Fidelis Insurance Ireland DAC (FIID), has made major appointments at the Dublin unit. FIID chief financial officer Robert Kellyhas been appointed to serve as chief executive. In addition, senior underwriter Simon Crone has been promoted to chief underwriting officer. Mr Kelly was among the first to come onboard the specialty reinsurer, while Mr Crone joined FIID this year from AmTrust.
Dónal Rooney becomes CFO at Generator
Dónal Rooney been named chief financial officer of Generator, a company with a chain of boutique hostels. Generator, which was acquired by London-based Queensgate Investments for €450 million in 2017, has 14 hostels in total, including one in Smithfield, Dublin. The company opened its first US location in Miami last year. Mr Rooney tendered his resignation as director and CFO of Datalex in February, just three months after joining the company. He stayed on with the business until the end of April to help see it through its crisis-management efforts.
Zurich Insurance names CEO for Irish subsidiary
Zurich Insurance Group AG has appointed Neil Freshwater CEO of Dublin-based subsidiary Zurich Insurance PLC. Mr Freshwater replaces Patrick Manley and was CEO of Zurich Insurance Group’s legacy arm, Zurich Legacy Solutions.
Jason Nebenzahl appointed CEO at Omnicom Media Group
Jason Nebenzahl has been appointed as the new CEO of Omnicom Media Group after it was announced that Dave Harland was stepping down from the role after 14 years at the helm. Harland will remain on with Omnicom in an advisory capacity until mid-2020. Prior to joining Omnicom, he was chief executive of Initiative Dublin for 11 years. The company is jointly owned by BBDO Dublin and TBWA\Dublin, both of which are owned by the US-headquartered Omnicom Group.
Real Nation appoints Emma Ross as Chief Operating Officer
Real Nation, the Dublin-based experiential and events agency has appointed Emma Ross as its chief operating officer (COO). Ms Ross joins Real Nation with over 14 years’ experience across the marketing industry including periods at Runway Marketing, Pluto and Verve.
EBITDA is an accounting term and is often the best indicator of profitability in non-capital-intensive businesses before financing and tax are considered. In capital-intensive businesses EBIT or EBITDA less average Capital Expenditure are often better measures. YoY is an acronym for the year-on-year movement in turnover, EBITDA, etc.
Olgarry Fishing Company Limited is involved in the marine fishing industry and operates a number of fishing vessels, ranging from 40m-60m, out of Killybegs fishing port on the north shore of Donegal Bay. In its most recent financial year, Olgarry Fishing Company saw revenue remain relatively flat at c. €3.9m although EBITDA increased by 24% from c. €1.5m to c. €1.9m. The jump in EBITDA was largely due to well managed costs with cost of sales decreasing by 9.6% while revenue remained fairly static. The company employed on average 11 employees in FY18. The largest drains on cash generated during the period were CapEx additions of c. €420k, Bank debt repayment of c. €750k and directors loan repayment of c. €330k. At the end of FY18, the total cash balance stood at c. €4.2m versus an outstanding debt balance of c. €8.2m, €1.5m of which relates to a director’s loan. The company is owned by the McGing family and Olga Cassidy.
Paul Connan Limited which trades as McDonald’s is part of the McDonald’s franchise and is based in Belfast. In its most recent financial year, the company saw a large drop in revenue of 37.8% from c. £13.5m to c. £8.4m while EBITDA was down 29.1% to c. £0.8m. The large drop in revenue in FY18 was due to the sale of three restaurants in FY17 for a reported £4.3m as well as the temporary closure of one of its sites due to a fire at Primark in Donegal Place. The company employed on average 279 employees in FY18 at a cost of c. £2.6m, down from 399 employees in FY17 at a cost of c. £4.1m. There was a 60.4% decrease in cash in FY18 leaving a positive cash balance of c. £2.7m on the balance sheet. The cash drop off was largely due to the purchase of “other investments” which amounted to c. £3m as well as the purchase of tangible assets of c. £658k while also paying a £150k dividend during the year. The company is majority owned by Paul Connan.
Ampleforth Limited, is a Dublin-based hospitality and tourism group which includes the Fitzwilliam Hotels in Dublin and Belfast. Despite a c. 10% increase in sales during FY18, EBITDA declined by c. 2% due to a €1.3m increase in admin expenses. During the period, the company employed 164 employees at an annual cost of c. €4.2m. The company spent c. €700k on CapEx during the period and paid nearly €2.2m in debt and interest repayments. The company also drew down a new €7m loan during the period. At the period end, the group had c. €22m in debt outstanding against a cash balance of c. €8.2m. Michael Holland is the ultimate owner of the group with 100% share ownership.
Who: Eagle Alpha, an Irish company that analyses alternative data such as social media on behalf of asset managers, has raised funding.
What: €2.1m has been secured in the latest round which brings the total investments to €7.8m since the company was set up in 2012 by former investment banker Emmet Kilduff.
Why: The new funds are intended to hire additional data scientists and engineers.
Source: Irish Times
Who: Around Noon, a Northern Irish-headquartered food-to-go company has received investment.
What: €7.6m has been partially backed by Invest NI.
Why: The investment is planned for business expansion with the goal to become UK and Ireland’s leading manufacturer of premium ‘food on the move’.
Source: Irish Times
Who: Cork-based Artisan bread producer Arbutus Bread, founded by Michelin chef Declan Ryan in 1999, has raised funding.
What: €26,000 was raised from peer-to-peer (P2P) lender Linked Finance.
Why: The funds will be used to expand the business with the purchase of new bread making equipment.
Source: Irish Examiner
Who: Creative Composites, a Lisburn-based manufacturing company has secured investment.
What: £11m fund has been backed by Invest NI; part-financed by the Investment for Growth and Jobs Programme for Northern Ireland 2014-2020 and co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund.
Why: With this funding support, the company plans to extend its existing premises to facilitate future growth and to create 132 new jobs.
Source: Belfast Telegraph; Creative Composites
Who: Blanco Nino, a Tipperary-based producer of corn tortillas and tortilla chips founded by Philip Martin in 2015.
What: €300k has been raised through UK-based crowdfunding platform CrowdCube.
Why: New funding will be used to launch its new brand of tortilla chips into supermarkets in Ireland and Europe.
Source: The Sunday Business Post
What: Nearly €2m funding round, which included investment by Cormac Kilty – founder of Biotrin, this brings total funding raised for Assure Hedge close to €4m. Other backers include IFG chairman Richard Hayes, David Crampton of the Crampton housebuilding family and Pearse Mee’s family – founder of AMT-Sybex.
Why: Use of funding was not specified.
Source: The Sunday Business Post
What: Dark recently raised $3.5m in funding. Investors include Limerick native Darragh Buckley who was Stripe’s third employee, Greg Brockman the former CTO of Strip and Eric Ries author of the book The Lean Startup.
Why: Use of funding was not specified.
Source: The Sunday Independent
In spite of betting markets failing to call the original Brexit vote or Trump’s election we remain believers that it is one of the better guides to probabilities of outcomes of events. So we are starting a weekly tracker using odds from oddschecker and taking off bookmakers margin to come up with deemed percentage probability of outcomes and the current markets read as follows:
7.5% chance of a second referendum (12/1)
56% chance of a Brexit of some sort achieved by Christmas this year (4/6)
42% chance of a no deal Brexit this year (i.e. leaving without withdrawal agreement in place) (7/5)
34% chance of Boris exit by Christmas (11/4)
79% chance of a second no-confidence vote (1/7)
If you are not in agreement with any of above you can get the odds here and back your opinion: https://go.renatus.ie/e/
10.8%
The year-on-year increase in seasonally adjusted services for June 2019 bringing the index value to 127, Information & Communications showed the largest increase of 37.1%
@CSOIreland
2.1%
The year-on-year decrease in national production for Manufacturing Industries reducing the index from 99.1 in June 2018 to 97 in June 2019.
@CSOIreland
0.5%
The year-on-year increase in the Consumer Price index in July 2019 with most notable changes were increases in Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels (+4.0).
@CSOIreland
11.8%
The year-on-year increase in the number of housing completions for Q2 of 2019, amounting to 4,920 completions in the Republic.
@CSOIreland
Renatus’ Knowledge Centre
Our Knowledge Centre is filled with insights from some of Ireland’s top business leaders on Succession Planning, Management Buyouts / Buy-Ins, Growth Financing and much more.
Receive this Newsletter Direct to your Inbox
To receive Renatus’ Weekly M&A Newsletter directly to your inbox, click the button below and subscribe to the newsletter.
