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.
David Maxwell, our partner in Boojum, did an excellent interview during the week.
If you click to 38 minutes in, you will hear what he says about how Private Equity with the right partners can be a value-add to a company and is worth a listen for anybody considering investment.
You can find the interview here.
David and the many others in Ireland who have a successful alliance with Private Equity are really educating the market on the benefits and dispelling the myth that Private Equity are just takers.
It can and should be a symbiotic relationship with the company and management teams.
Deal Details: MERC Partners, Ireland’s foremost executive search and leadership consulting firm, has been acquired by Spencer Stuart for an undisclosed sum.
Founded in 1980 and based in Dublin, MERC Partners specializes in the appointment, assessment and development of senior business leaders for many of the most notable multinational corporations as well as the leading privately owned and public sector organisations in Ireland.
Spencer Stuart is a leading global executive search and leadership advisory firm.
Advisers: Cooney Carey acted as corporate finance advisers for MERC Partners, with LK Shields, led by Emmet Scully and Gillian Dully, acting as MERC’s legal advisers on the transaction.
Renatus Comment: This follows Brightwater’s MBO and Grafton’s exit also. The two themes emerging here is that professional service firms are increasingly monetising goodwill via equity that was not always easy to achieve and Irish brands want a global partner and global brands want an Irish presence.
Source: MERC
Deal Details: Red Hat, which has offices in Dublin, Cork and Waterford, has been bought by IBM in a $34bn deal.
Red Hat, Inc. is an American multinational software company, providing open-source software products to the enterprise community. Founded in 1993, Red Hat has its corporate headquarters in Raleigh, North Carolina, with worldwide offices.
The acquisition redefines the cloud market for business. Together, IBM and Red Hat will accelerate innovation by offering a next-generation hybrid multicloud platform.
Advisers: None mentioned.
Renatus Comment: Red Hat’s fiscal year 2019 revenue was $3.4bn, up 15% year-on-year. IBM cloud revenue for the 12-month period through the first quarter of this year grew to over $19bn. The Red Hat acquisition is expected to contribute approximately two points of compound annual revenue growth to IBM over a five-year period.
Source: IBM
Deal Details: White Oak UK, one of the UK’s leading providers of non-bank finance to SME businesses has acquired Growcap Finance for an undisclosed sum. Growcap is a leading supplier of trade and supply chain funding solutions to businesses in both the UK and Ireland. White Oak Global Advisors, which is a multi-billion private credit firm, is the ultimate parent to White Oak UK.
The purchase comes in response to a growing demand from White Oak UK’s clients to provide increased financing options to businesses with an appetite for international trade.
Advisers: Beauchamps’ team, led by Banking and Finance Partner Malachy Kearney and supported by Banking and Finance solicitor Sean O’ Maoldomhnaigh, advised Growcap Finance on all legal aspects of their overall buyout by White Oak UK.
Renatus Comment:
Alternative finance in Europe is catching up with the US. There are probably twenty + logos active in the Irish market that were not around Ireland ten years ago.
Source: White Oak
Deal Details: Cork-based Inhance Technology is to be acquired by London-listed Blancco Technology Group for a consideration of €5.25m which consists of €3.25m in cash and €2m in Blancco shares. Inhance Technology, led by CEO William Fitzgerald, has developed a mobile diagnostic app that allows users to get a trade-in value for the handset and sell it. Inhance reported revenue of €1.2m and an operating loss of €1.0m in FY2018.
Blancoo Technology Group is a global provider of mobile device diagnostics and secure data erasure solutions.
Advisers: None mentioned
Renatus Comment: Pre-transaction, CRO filings show cork entrepreneur and Healthcare 21 owner Owen Curtin as the majority shareholder in the business who owned c. 74% of the ordinary shares through personal holdings and through a holding company. Other benefactors include CEO William Fitzgerald (c. 4%) and Peter Lynch (c. 10%).
Source: Blannco Technology Group plc press release
Deal Details: LloydsPharmacy Ireland, Ireland’s largest pharmacy group, is to acquire, subject to CCPC approval, Median Healthcare Services and three Health Express chemists which went into examinership last year. Consideration was not disclosed and both businesses are owned by Paddy Halligan, Martin Bates and Dave O’Farrell.
Median Healthcare offers pharmaceutical care and advice to the nursing home sector.
Advisers: Neil Hughes of Baker Tilly Hughes Blake acted as examiner of Median Healthcare.
Source: Sunday Times
Deal Details: Spanish aircraft parts-maker Aernnova has emerged as a possible buyer for Bombardier’s up-for-sale Northern Ireland operation, according to reports. To date, US-based Spirit Aerosystems, UK group GKN and Airbus have all been linked with a potential acquisition.
Source: Belfast Telegraph
Deal Details: Agri-services group Origin Enterprises has reached “conditional agreement” for the sale of up to 31 acres of land it owns on Cork’s south docklands to O’Callaghan Properties for up to €47.5m. The site contains several landmark buildings including the R&H Hall grain silos and the historic red-brick Odlums building.
Source: Irish Examiner
Deal Details: The profitable Crystal Sports and Leisure Centre in Waterford is being sold for €1.5m by local sportsman and businessman Pat Rocket, who is also chief coach of the Irish Karate Federation.
Source: Irish Independent
Deal Details: Pico, a leading provider of technology services for the global financial markets community, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Irish data analytics company Corvil. Corvil is a market leader in real-time analytics and machine intelligence products for financial markets infrastructure performance and operations. The financial details have not been disclosed.
Source: Corvil
Deal Details: Drug and medical device distributor Uniphar is pricing its shares to go to market at €1.15 when it IPOs. The company is going to market at a reported valuation of 6x EBITDA. Previously, its broker Davy guided a valuation to investors that was closer to 10x EBITDA.
Source: Sunday Times
Deal Details: The sale of concert promoter MCD to Live Nation has been approved by Irish regulators, but with conditions attached including that authorities must be told in advance of any takeover of a new music festival.
Source: Irish Independent
Deal Details: The Carlyle Group L.P., through CCIF Salero S.À.R.L., have acquired joint control of Carducci Holdings Designated Activity Company (The City Bin Co.).
Source: CCPC
Deal Details: The CCPC has cleared the takeover of Kings Laundry by Berendsen Ireland, subject to several legally binding commitments to ensure competitiveness continues. While neither company has revealed details, it’s speculated that the purchase price is in the region of €22m – €30m.
Source: CCPC
Deal Details: Dublin firms World Travel Centre and Core Travel have merged to form a business with revenues of c.€190m and 190 staff.
World Travel Centre is run by Aidan Coghlan and deals mainly with travel agents and corporate bookings, it had turnover of €142.6m in the year to the end of October and Core Travel, a cruise and flight specialist, had revenue of €45.9m.
Source: The Times UK
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
Zeus Packaging appoints new CFO
Zeus Packaging has appointed Sean O’Keeffe as Group CFO. Mr O’Keeffe was previously CFO at Landmark Media and based in Cork. He was previously a Director at Deloitte where he focused on Corporate Finance Advisory. Mr. O’Keeffe is a Chartered Accountant.
New editor appointed at Sunday Business Post
Former editor of the Times Ireland Richie Oakley has been appointed editor of the Sunday Business Post. Mr Oakley’s new role comes less than a month since the last print edition of the Times Ireland was published. He will formally take up his new role in mid-August, succeeding Susan Mitchell, deputy editor, who has been acting editor of the Sunday Business Post pending this appointment. The newspaper was last year sold to Galway businessman Enda O’Coineen, the chairman of Kilcullen Capital Partners.
Deutsche Bank’s Chief Country Officer for Ireland appointed CEO for Wells Fargo Bank
Wells Fargo named Fiona Gallagher the new CEO for Wells Fargo Bank International Unlimited (WFBI), effective October 1, 2019. She will be based in Dublin and report to John Langley, president of Wells Fargo’s Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, and the WFBI Board of Directors. A 15-year Deutsche Bank veteran, Ms Gallagher most recently was managing director, global head of Securities Services and chief country officer for Ireland. Prior to Deutsche Bank, Ms Gallagher worked in New York, USA, for Barclays Capital and Merrill Lynch.
AXA UK & Ireland appoints new Chief Risk Officer
Re/insurer AXA UK & Ireland has appointed David Baker as new CRO, replacing Evan Waks who is leaving the company. Mr Baker joins from Direct Line Group where he has been director of group compliance since 2012. Previously, he held regulatory focused roles at Prudential, the Financial Ombudsman Service and Phoenix Group. Mr Baker will also join AXA UK and Ireland’s management committee.
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.
LXV Remedies Holdings Limited which trades as McCauley Health and Beauty Pharmacy is the leading Irish owned retail pharmacy group in the country. The group operates 35 pharmacies nationwide and employs 674 staff, up 82 over the year. FY18 was a transformational period for the business as, following its acquisition by Carlyle Cardinal Ireland, it acquired three pharmacies and opened two new locations. In addition, the business rebranded to McCauley Health and Beauty Pharmacy from Sam McCauley Chemists. Recently released filings represent a 14-month year beginning from the holding company’s inception, however, for comparison purposes the most recent 12 months are compared to the prior 12. It was a positive 12-month period as the group was able to overcome high street headwinds that have significantly impacted other retailers by growing revenue to c. €84.6m, an increase of 5.6%. Revenue was converted to c. €5.3m of EBITDA as gross margins were flat at c. 41%. The McCauley Group is currently led by its CEO, Tony McEntee and has set targets to double the size of the group in the coming years.
Hastings Hotel Group Limited trades as Hastings Hotels, a collection of seven hotels across Northern Ireland which includes the Europa hotel. Founded by William Hastings over 50 years ago, Hastings Hotels has grown to become one of Ireland’s premier hotel groups. For their financial year to July 2018, the group saw turnover increase by 3.9% to c. £41.2m while EBITDA decreased by 4.7% to c. £7.2m. The inability to convert top line growth to EBITDA growth was primarily caused by a c. £3.2m increase in administrative expenses as staff numbers rose by 138 persons over the year. In total, the group employed an average of 1,244 people at a cost of c. £14.8m. A net cash increase of c. £3.2m was recorded after assets of c. £23.6m were purchased, part-financed by a new loans totalling £18.9m. At the end of FY18, the group’s net assets were c. £19.7m.
Based in Killybegs, Co. Donegal, Gallagher Brother (Fish Merchants) Limited is the holding company of Ocean farm Limited and Ocean Trawlers Limited. The group specialise in fish processing, salmon farming and deep water trawl fishing. For the financial year ending July 2018, the company experienced revenue growth of 9.2% from FY17 as income of c. €22.5m was recorded. This did not convert to EBITDA growth as there was slight decrease of 1.2% for a total of c. €4.6m. A net increase of cash of c. €2.8m was recorded to leave an ending, total cash balance of c. €7.8m. The primary movements in cash were in financing activities where a new loan of c. €3.8m was drawn down while repayments totalling c. €5.7m were paid. Elsewhere, the business spent c. €780k on fixed assets. The company, which had net assets of c. €20.1m at the end of FY18, is owned by Gallagher family members which include Tadhg, Patrick and Anne.
Benner’s Garage trades as Kerry Motor Works, a specialist Ford delearship based in Tralee, Co. Kerry. For FY18, the business experienced a slight improvement in the top line as revenues increased by 1.8% to c. €20.7m. However, there was a decrease in EBITDA which dropped by 21.6% to c. €757k. The primary driver of the decrease was a slight deterioration of gross margins which moved from 12.2% last year to 11.6% this. EBITDA converted to a net cash increase of c. €368k which resulted in an ending total cash balance of c. €2.4m. A tax bill of c. €237k was the biggest outlay of cash over the year while the business also spent c. €54k on fixed assets as well as c. €54k on loan financing. Net assets stood at c. €5.3m at the end of the financial year. The company is currently owned by Benner family members Nicky, Stephen, William and Claire.
Who: Peptalk, a corporate wellness company co-founded by Dublin Gaelic footballer Bernard Brogan, James Brogan and Michelle Fogarty.
What: The company has just completed a €300k fundraise, bringing the total amount raised to-date to €750k.
Why: The company has previously stated its international expansion ambitiions and is likely to use some of the funds towards sales and marketing to achieve the same.
Source: Sunday Business Post
Who: Bleeperbike, founded by Hugh Cooney, is Ireland’s first stationless bike sharing scheme. Bikes are equipped with a smart lock that controls usage of the bike by communicating the with company’s custom-built app.
What: The company has just raised c. €750k from BVP investments.
Why: The new funds will be used to double Bleeper’s standard bike fleet to 1,000 bikes and produce 200 pedal assist e-bikes.
Source: Sunday Business Post
Who: Soldo, a fintech start-up which has recently been named the fourth most exciting start-up in the UK, has secured funding.
What: $61m has been raised in Series B funding from the procurement of a second e-money licence from Ireland’s Central Bank in addition to the e-money licence it secured in the UK.
Why: Soldo said that it will use the investment to scale into new European markets, while doubling the company’s existing workforce over the next 12 months.
Source: Silicon Republic
Who: Video Elephant, a Dublin-based premium video library company founded in 2012 by Stephen O’Shaughnessy, raises funding.
What: €5.5m comes largely from ACT Venture Capital and is also backed by Enterprise Ireland and the AIB Seed Capital Fund.
Why: New funding is used to double its workforce, while expanding its global offices to include Los Angeles, Berlin and Sydney. The company also plans to invest heavily in its IP and AI technology to encourage the growth of its video libraries.
Source: Silicon Republic
Who: Fineos, an Irish software company to list on the Australian Securities Exchange
What: The company is expected to seek to raise about $200 million for a $500 million-odd market value and list next month.
Why: As Fineos makes 53 per cent of its revenue in the Asia Pacific region it is preferred the company reports in Australian dollars – where the bulk of its revenue comes from.
Source: The Times
Who: An Irish online medical site Webdoctor, founded in 2014 by clinical director Dr Sylvester Mooney and chief executive Oisin Kim, has secured funding.
What: Over €1m combined investment has been backed by Webdoctor original backers and veteran tech entrepreneur Cyril McGuire with €600,000 contribution.
Why: Webdoctor has plans to expand its business into mainland Europe and the United States.
Source: Irish Independent
Who: Future Finance, a Dublin-based fintech company specialising in student loans has secured funding.
What: €23m has been backed by S-Cubed Capital among other investors.
Why: This new injection of cash will be used for continued growth in the UK market and will be invested in marketing and partnerships.
Source: Fora
Who: Property Bridges, an Irish start-up founded in 2018 by chief executive David Jelly, has developed a software platform that connects investors with experienced developers.
What: €5m capital has been supplied by Kevin Lagans fund Lagan Investments who own a 10% stake in the business.
Why: The investments will be used to grow the business in the next 3 years and to boost the number of registered lenders it has on its platform from 2,000 to 10,000 by 2022.
Source: Irish Times
Who: EdgeTier, Founded in 2015 by Dr. Shane Lynn, Dr. Bart Lehane, and Ciarán Tobin is an Irish start-up using artificial intelligence (AI) to improve customer service, secured funding.
What: €1.5m investment was led by venture capital firm Episode 1 in conjunction with Dublin-based Act Venture Capital and Enterprise Ireland.
Why: The investment is to be used to increase research and development efforts in its AI assistant known as Arthur and for further international expansion.
Source: Irish Times
Who: SynergySuite, an Irish restaurant software company founded by siblings Niall and Suzanne Keane, has raised funding.
What: $6m (€5.3m) has been secured in Series A funding round which was led by US venture capital firm First Analysis, with participation from Bill McCabe’s private equity firm Oyster Capital along with Cross Group founder Ken Keating.
SynergySuite was advised by Alan O’Driscoll and John Troute of Flynn O’Driscoll. First Analysis was advised by Maples in Dublin and Neal Gerber Eisenberg in Chicago.
Why: With the new funding, SynergySuite will drive continued customer growth by expanding sales, marketing, implementation and client success.
Source: SynergySuite
1.1%
The year-on-year increase in consumer prices, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), in Ireland in June 2019 versus June 2018.
@CSOIreland
6.1% & 5.9%
The year-on-year increase in the value of industrial production for Manufacturing Industries and the services sector respectively in Ireland for May 2019.
@CSOIreland
8.2%
The year-on-year growth in the Irish economy in 2018 versus 2017 as GDP stood at €324bn.
@CSOIreland
2.8%
The year-on-year rise in the price of residential properties nationally to May 2019. Dublin prices rose by 0.6% while the rest of the country rose by 5.1%.
@CSOIreland
6.5%
The year-on-year decrease in new private cars licensed in Ireland in the first 6 months of 2019 amounting to 77,639 cars while the number of electric and hybrid new private cars licensed in the same period increased by 68.5% to 9,150.
@CSOIreland
3.8% & 2.4%
The year-on-year increase in national agri prices input and output respectively in May 2019 compared with May 2018.
@CSOIreland
2.4% & 2.1%
The increase in Irish GDP and GNP respectively in Q1 2019 versus Q4 2018
@CSOIreland
49.8
May’s reading on the AIB Ireland Manufacturing PMI, the first time the index has been below 50, which is the growth threshold, since May 2013. @IndoBusiness
€5bn
The expected cost of interest payments on Ireland’s national debt in 2019, down from a peak of €7.5bn seen in 2014, according to the
@NTMA_IE. @IndoBusiness
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