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: Metis Ireland, a financial firm founded by Carl Widger and Karl Daly in 2014 in Limerick, has sold a 50% stake to Davy Group (J&E Davy Holdings). Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.
Metis has offices in Limerick, Dublin & Clonmel, it has €195m in assets under management. The firm will continue to trade as Metis Ireland and operated as an independently regulated company.
As part of the investment, Karl Daly will no longer hold shares in the company, however he will continue to act as a consultant to the business.
Davy is Ireland’s largest stockbroker, wealth manager, asset manager and financial advisor and has offices in Dublin, Belfast, Cork, Galway and London.
Advisers: None mentioned
Renatus Comment: We reported on this transaction back in May in the ‘Deals in the Making’ section and it has now been approved by the Central Bank of Ireland. This transaction represents the ninth strategic acquisition made by the Davy Group in the Wealth and Asset Management space across the island of Ireland in the past decade, having previously bought Bloxham Stockbrokers as well as Prescient to name a few.
The Asset and Wealth Management industry in Ireland has grown significantly since the introduction of the Irish Financial Services Centre in 1987 and continues to expand today. The industry has grown to become a global leader with total assets under management in Ireland worth c. €4.7tn in 2019. Davy Group currently manages €14bn+ of client assets.
Source: Metis Ireland
Deal Details: Global data specialist Calligo acquired Dublin-based IT managed services provider DC Networks Ltd for an undisclosed sum.
DC Networks Ltd., one of the most well-respected MSPs in the region, specialises in IT support, telecommunications and networking and managed Microsoft Azure services.
Calligo is an international data optimization & privacy specialist. Supporting businesses with Cloud & IT Managed Services, Data Privacy Consultancy & AI.
Advisers: None mentioned
Renatus Comment: This acquisition is a natural bolt-on for Calligo due to the significant overlap in services provided and customers between the two companies. Calligo’s scale and international reach combined with DC’s local expertise should result in a better served market here if the acquisition is integrated successfully.
Source: DC Networks
Deal Details: British private equity group Rockpool has invested a reported £6m in Fortus Group for a 38% stake. Rockpool are providing both equity and debt as part of the transaction.
Fortus Group is a newly formed security equipment distribution group which was founded by Brian Honan, a Dublin native. The business’ intention is to make a Fortus a group of security focused companies. Brian Honan also owns RWL Security Solutions which recently acquired a British distributor of security cameras, ezCCTV. These companies will be brought under the Fortus group as part of the growth strategy.
Advisers: AIB Corporate Finance advised the Fortus Group, the AIB team was led by Mark Brophy and Peter Golden.
Renatus Comment: With an equity partner on-board and a stated buy-and-build strategic plan, we will expect to see much more of Fortus in our weekly update. By bringing in Rockpool, Brian Honan has de-risked this journey for himself personally and will have the financial and strategic backing to support his ambition of having sales of c. £120m in the next three to four years.
Source: The Sunday Times
Deal Details: Bookmaker BoyleSports has acquired 33 William Hill shops, primarily based in Northern Ireland. The consideration has not been disclosed.
BoyleSports previously acquired 15 of William Hill’s stores in the Republic in 2011. William Hill has not had a presence here since. This disposal comes on the back of a reported loss of £700m for William Hill in 2018 and the closure of c. 700 shops as it pivots its business to online.
Advisers: None mentioned
Renatus Comment: This deal continues a trend for BoyleSports which has made a number of clever bolt-on acquisitions in recent times including Bruce Betting and part of the Mulholland group and further back in depths of recession acquiring the William Hill business in the south and a number of the Celtic bookmakers stores. When Ladbrokes bought Eastwoods in Northern Ireland in 2008, it cost c. £2m per store. The market has now moved with more revenue coming online and this deal is likely much cheaper on a per store basis.
Source: Business Post
Deal Details: Existing shareholders at Grassland Agro have agreed to an internal share sale. Liam Woulfe, former executive at Golden Vale and Kerry Group, has sold a considerable amount of his 50% stake to fellow shareholder Timac Agro.
Grassland Agro is a supplier of farm fertiliser and related supplies. It was created in 2013 from the coming together of Freshgrass Group’s Grassland Fertilizers business and Groupe Roullier’s Timac Agro Ireland business. Up until this sale, it was a 50/50 Joint Venture between the companies.
This deal will not effect the day to day operations of the business and it is reported that Mr. Woulfe will continue to work with the company.
Advisers: None Mentioned
Renatus Comment: Liam Woulfe is a great case study in an executive moving to become an investor and equity shareholder. Mr. Woulfe was formerly an executive director at Golden Vale Plc and subsequently a manager in Kerry Group’s dairies division. In 2002, he left Kerry to found Freshgrass Investments, his own vehicle. Freshgrass acquired Golden Vale Dairies UK from Kerry Group in 2003, before selling it for a premium in 2006. Through the Freshgrass vehicle, Mr. Woulfe now has a number of other interests including Dummond which was bought out of Greencore.
Source: The Sunday Times
Deal Details: St. James’ Place’s proposed acquisition of Harvest Financial Services Group has fallen through. St. James’ Place is a British-based wealth manager while Harvest is a Dublin-based financial advisor. The deal had previously been agreed and was subject to approval by the Central Bank. However, St. James’ Place have now exited the deal due to “strategic decisions”.
Source: Sunday Independent
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 with details of key recent executive and board level appointments.
Cairn plc appoints new CFO
Cairn Homes has announced the appointment of Shane Doherty as its new CFO. Mr Doherty is currently Group CFO at recruitment firm, Morgan McKinley. He previously worked in the renewable energy sector as CFO at Gaelectric. He is a former senior executive at Paddy Power Betfair where he led the paddypower.com. Mr Doherty spent almost 11 years at eircom working across a number of senior finance roles. He is a Chartered Accountant having trained at PwC.
New Chairman appointed at enet
Irish fibre and wireless provider, enet, has appointed Jon Florshiem as its new non-executive Chairman. He is presently Chairman at GoMedia Services. Mr Flourshiem previously served as eir’s Chief Commercial Officer and is a former senior executive at BskyB.
DLA Piper appoints new Partner
US law firm, DLA Piper, continues to rapidly expand its operations in Ireland. It has recently appointed Kate Curneen as a Partner. Ms Curneen previously worked at Dillon Eustace as a Partner in its Banking and Capital Markets practice. She trained at McCann Fitzgerald and thereafter spent periods as a Solicitor at AIB and Certus before returning to McCann FItzerald as a Solicitor. Ms Curneen is a graduate of UCD.
Cardinal Capital appoints senior businessman to its executive team
Private Equity firm, Cardinal Capital, has appointed Mike Maloney to its senior executive team. He was CEO at Payzone until recently which is a former portfolio company of Carlyle Cardinal Ireland. Mr Maloney is a former army officer and prior to his appointment at Payzone he worked in a number of multinational organisations in the IT, telecoms and fintech sectors.
Shannon Group appoints new Company Secretary
Rachael Leahy has been appointed as company secretary and head of legal for the Shannon Group, the umbrella organisation for Shannon Airport Authority, Shannon Heritage, IASC and Shannon Commercial Properties. Ms Leahy joined the Shannon Group in November 2014 as head of legal with responsibility for the group’s procurement function. She retains these functions in her new role as company secretary, as well as taking on responsibility for its administration and compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements. As a member of the executive management team, she will report directly to the Shannon Group CEO and will assist in the delivery of its new strategic plan for 2019-2023. Prior to joining Shannon Group, Ms Leahy was a partner with Michael Houlihan & Partners in Ennis. She is a practising solicitor and previously trained and worked with Matheson.
Beale & Co appoints new Partner in Dublin
Construction lawyer Killian Dorney has re-joined specialist law firm Beale & Co as a partner in the firm’s Dublin office. Mr Dorney, who worked with the firm earlier in his career, re-joins from A&L Goodbody, where he spent the last year-and-a-half as a construction associate. He acts for employers, contractors, subcontractors and consultants, as well as their insurers, in relation to all aspects of construction contracts, advising on the full suite of construction project documentation.
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.
Drumcairn Holdings Limited, which trades as Cormac Leonard Commercials, specialises in the sale of new and used commercial vehicles and plant and machinery in the UK, Ireland and worldwide. With its HQ in Armagh, Northern Ireland, the company also has sales depots located in Eggborough and Yorkshire in the UK and in addition to its sales provides other services including Servicing and MOT Testing, Modifications, Transport, Shipping, Painting, Inspections and Documentation. The company had a solid year in FY19 which saw incremental growth with revenue increasing by 3.6% to c. £22.4m while EBITDA also increased by 8.3% to c. £2.7m. The company employed an average of 35 people during the year at a cost of c. £1.2m. There was a net cash decrease of c. £940k in the year after significant working capital movements which included a c. £1.5m increase in stock. The company also spent c. £1.5m on the purchase of tangible fixed assets, which can largely be attributed to new motor vehicles (c. £1.2m) and tractor units (c. £360k), as well as c. £712k on the addition of a new investment property. Net debt on the balance sheet at year end was £1.4m. Net assets was up 9.4% during the year to c. £12.1m. The company is owned by Leon Leonard (50%) and Cormac Leonard (50%).
| Linders of Smithfield Limited is a diversified group of companies which includes three garages in Chapelizod, Finglas and Turvey which specialise in new Opel and Citreon cars. The group also engages in property management and the distribution of heating and white goods products. For FY19, the group had revenue of €46.1m and EBITDA of c. €12.0m. EBITDA decreased by 8.0% over the year as a result of gross margins moving from 10.1% to 8.3%. Cash on hand increased by c. €2.8m during the year. Linders had net assets of €86.6m at the end of the year and is owned by Linder family members Patrick, Joseph and Paul. |
| Inchturk Holdings Limited, is predominantly a builder provider and hardware merchant that trades under the name Ganly’s. Based in Athlone, Ganly’s has grown to become one of the largest builder providers in the midlands over the last 30 years with locations in Athlone, Longford and Mountbellew. FY19 was a good year for the group which saw revenue increase by c. 15% to c. €30.8m and EBITDA increase by c. 8% to €3.5m. The business started with just four staff in 1989 but now employs 111 at an annual cost of c. €3.4m. There was a limited CapEx of €150k during the period on motor vehicles and fixtures and fittings. There was c. €2.4m spent on the repayment of debt facilities during the year bringing the outstanding debt balance to €9.8m at the period end versus a closing cash balance of c. €1.0m. The business is owned by Michael (75%) and Sheila (25%) Ganly. |
Who: Options, a technology company led by Northern Irish entrepreneur Danny Moore, has secured investment.
What: Funding comes from a Boston-based private equity firm Abry Partners. The investment amount was not disclosed however it is believed to be more than $100m (€90m) Options raised in 2017.
Why: The investment is intended to “significantly accelerate” its growth strategy, pursue strategic M&A targets and invest further in the company’s technology platform.
Source: Irish Times
Who: Diona, a Dublin-based software company that provides a platform that helps run health and social welfare systems.
What: The business has raised a reported €3m from a group of private investors which includes former tanaiste Mary Harney.
Why: The use of the funds has not been disclosed.
Source: Business Post
Source: Business Post
Who: Belfast-based Thrive has raised funding. Thrive provides employee communications software.
What: An undisclosed amount has been invested by Halo Business Angel Network and private investors.
Why: The funds will be used to support the ambition of having one million users by 2022 and a 5 year business plan.
Source: Business Post
We allowed our Brexit tracker take the space for our thought for the week in months gone by but we are back thinking again…here’s this week’s one…..
We in Renatus are privileged to get such exposure to entrepreneurs and business leaders. What strikes us most is that money is undoubtedly not what motivates business leaders and entrepreneurs and a poem we tripped across over the holidays called The Great Competitor by Grantland Rice captures this perfectly…
Beyond the winning and the goal,
Beyond the glory and the fame,
(S)He feels a flame within his/her soul,
Born of the spirit of the game.
And where the barriers may wait,
Built by the opposing gods,
(S)He finds a thrill in bucking fate
And riding down the endless odds.
Where others wither in the fire,
Or fall below some raw mishap,
Where others lag behind and tire,
Or break beneath the handicap,
(S)He finds a new and deeper thrill
To take him/her on the uphill spin,
Because the test is greater still
And something (s)he can revel in.
4.8%
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for December 2019, down from 5.5% a year earlier, according to @CSOIreland
1.9%
The year-on-year decline in the new car sales in Northern Ireland for 2019 amounting to 51,512 new cars sold, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) @BelTel
1.4% & 0.1%
The year-on-year increase in the Irish retail volume and value, respectively, for November 2019, according to @CSOIreland
7.44%
The year-on-year increase in the exports of Irish food, drink and horticulture products for 2019 amounting to €13bn – a record high since the foundation of Bord Bia 25 years ago, according to Bord Bia. @IrishTimesBiz
2%
The increase in the average house prices in Northern Ireland for the last decade bring the average cost of home to £141,015 (€166,230), according to the Nationwide Building Society. @BelTel
1%
The year-on-year increase in the value of the monthly services index for November 2019. With the largest increases in the Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities by 13.6% and biggest drops in Administrative and Food Services Activities by 11.4%. @CSOIreland
2.9% & 4.1%
The year-on-year decrease in the Irish manufacturing industries production & turnover, respectively, for November 2019, according to @CSOIreland
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