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: Global CEO advisory firm Teneo has acquired Bridge PR, a Clare-based strategic communications advisory business. The financial details were not disclosed.
Teneo is a communications and advisory firm founded in 2011 by Declan Kelly, Paul Keary, and Doug Band. With headquarters in New York it employs 800 people in Dublin, London, and Brussels, and in other parts of the world.
Bridge PR, founded by Eugene Hogan in 2011, works with leading regional, national and international organizations including Shannon Group, Atlantic Bridge Ventures and the Bon Secours Health System. The company is owned by Eugene Hogan (99%) and Liz Skelly (1%).
Advisers: None mentioned
Renatus Comment: BC Partners, a London-based private equity firm exited its investment in Teneo in the Summer of 2019 after a very successful four-and-a-half-year partnership where the company completed nine acquisitions, tripled its headcount and almost doubled its EBITDA.
CVC Capital Partners, a leading global private equity and investment advisory firm, has since stepped in to partner with Teneo and replace BC Partners at a reported valuation of $700m. The company has continued in the same vein since, with this acquisition becoming the second already in 2020 following the acquisition of Hatley Strategy Advisors as the company continues to grow and expand its operations around the world.
Source: Teneo Press Release
Deal Details: Building Envelope Technologies (BET), as part of the Phenna Group, has acquired Buckinghamshire based Build Check Ltd.
Build Check was founded in 2004, by founding partners, David McKenna and Richard Bate. UKAS and BFRC accredited specialists, Build Check provide both on-site and laboratory based building testing and certification services to the construction and fenestration industries.
BET, founded in 2001, have a range of services to include consultancy, specialist enclosure and product testing, RIAI (The Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland) approved CPD training, building energy ratings and providing a range of specialist airtight building products.
Phenna Group is a dynamic group of specialist businesses focused on the Testing, Inspection, Certification, and Compliance (TICC) Sector.
Advisers: Phenna Group were advised by Fraser Brown Solicitors (Nottingham).
Build Check was advised by IBB Solicitors and Sterling Grove, Chartered Accountants.
Renatus Comment: We have mentioned before in this newsletter that with a backdrop of increasing regulation and focus on quality standards across many industries, the TICC sector is enjoying a period of attractive growth. Globally, the sector appears highly fragmented and consolidation is beginning to happen.
Source: Phenna Group Press Release
Deal Details: FNZ, the global platform-as-a-service provider, acquires Irish Progressive Services International (IPSI) from Irish Life. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
IPSI, founded in 1998, offers end-to-end TPA solutions to deliver a range of professional support services to the life insurance and pensions industry.
IPSI currently employs more than 250 people and services more than €30bn in assets under administration (AUA).
FNZ was founded in 2004 in Wellington, New Zealand. Today, it is responsible for over €480bn in AUA held by around eight million customers, including those of Aviva, Barclays, BNZ, Findex, Generali, Lloyds Banking Group, National Australia Bank, Quilter, Santander, Standard Life Aberdeen, Swedbank, UBS, UOB, Vanguard and Zurich.
In total, FNZ works with over 60 financial institutions globally and employs over 2,500 in Australia, China, Czech Republic, Germany, New Zealand, Singapore, the Nordics and the UK.
Advisers: Jonathan Dalton and his team at Key Capital, who seem to be advising on the majority of financial services deals, advised Irish Life / Great West LifeCo on the sale.
Renatus Comment: A high quality, niche business that has flown under the radar for a long time, IPSI offers a combination of proprietary software and outsourced services to international lifecos. With the backing of quality investors such as CDPQ and Temakek, FNZ have embarked on an ambitious M&A strategy and look to be a great fit for IPSI. Off the development of the IFSC, Ireland has developed an attractive niche in the world of financial services outsourcing and high quality assets in this space are attracting a lot of attention from international capital. The M&A landscape in financial services as a whole has been very busy with Arachas, Acumen & Trust, KB Associates, APT, Centaur and IPSI all having signed in the last 6 months.
Source: IPSI press Release
Deal Details: Électricité de France (EDF), a French electricity giant, acquired 50% interest in a Co Wicklow windfarm through its subsidiary EDF Renewables for an undisclosed sum.
The farm, 13km off the Wicklow coast and to the east of the shallow sand bank known as Codling Bank, has been previously reported to be worth over €100m and it is understood that the transaction value is the highest ever paid for an offshore wind asset in Ireland.
The total investment in the wind farm will amount to about €2bn with construction expected to begin in 2023. 220 turbines will eventually be erected across 14 rows. The capacity of the project is anticipated to be about 1 gigawatt (gw), enough to power more than 330,000 homes.
Original promoters Johnny and Conor Ronan retain a significant equity stake in the project.
Advisers: A KPMG team, led by Mike Hayes who heads up the global KPMG renewables team from Dublin, provided financial and tax advice on the deal. KPMG launched an excellent report on the climate challenges for business in recent weeks which is worth a read – click here. It is understood other advisors included Rothschilds and McCann Fitzgerald.
Renatus Comment: Wind is Ireland’s primary source of renewable energy, which is not surprising given our location. In 2018, wind supplied 30% of our total electricity demand and we ranked 3rd globally for relative use of wind energy. Recently the Irish government issued a new Transition Protocol which includes measures designed to expedite the development and construction of the leading offshore wind projects. Over the next 10 years, the Irish offshore wind sector is likely to grow rapidly leading to very significant supply chain benefits initially on the east coast but also ultimately for the west coast, where floating turbines are likely to predominate.
Source: Irish Times
A 103 megawatt (MW) portfolio of three windfarm projects has been put up for sale by a consortium of owners including Cavan-headquartered Galetech Energy Developments.
The consortium’s other members include GE Energy and Belgian renewables firm Storm Management.
The consortium is selling a 23MW project at Taghart in Co Cavan, a 34MW project in Co Offaly called Cloghan, and a 46.2MW scheme called Pinewood in Co Laois.
All three windfarm projects are hoping to secure 15-year subsidies under the new Renewable Electricity Supports Scheme (RESS). That new scheme is set to hold its first auction towards the end of the next quarter.
KPMG are advising them on the sale process.
Source: Irish Independent
The buyer of Irish gaming start-up Artomatix has emerged as Unity Technologies, a San Francisco-headquartered company with a $6bn (€5.5bn) market valuation.
The company, which is reportedly planning to go public shortly, acquired Dublin-based Artomatix in late December in a deal valued at up to $60 million.
Source: Irish Times
“Larry Goodman gained 100% ownership of the Galway Clinic back in December last year and paid c. €31.75m to buy the final 25% stake in the business, which valued the private hospital at c. €127m.”
Source: The Sunday Times
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.
Greencore CFO set to join M&S
UK retail giant Marks & Spencer has announced the appointment of Eoin Tonge as its new CFO. Mr Tonge will join the business in June.
Judith Curtin and John Byrne have been appointed as Partners at Cork based O’Flynn Exhams. Ms Curtin is a former executive at Bord Gais and joined O’Flynn Exhams as a solicitor 4 years ago. Ms Byrne joined the firm in 2006 as a senior associate.Senior Appointment Announcements at Paragon Group
Paragon Group has announced the appointment of Sean Shine as CEO. Mr Shine succeeds Patrick Crean (Paragon’s principal shareholder), who will now take on the role of Executive Chairman. John Rogers, currently Head of Corporate Development has also been promoted to Executive Director.
Patrick Crean has grown the business from €140m to €1.4bn and has now appointed Sean Shine as CEO.
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.
Protrans Limited, which trades as Protrans Transport & Logistics, is based in Longford and is one of the largest Transport and Logistics providers in the midlands. The company had a solid year in FY19 which saw turnover increase by 5.8% to c. €12.1m while EBITDA increased by 11.0% to c. €1.8m. The company employed an average of 88 people during the year at a cost of c. €3.4m. There was a net cash decrease of c. €272k during the year as the company spent c. €873k on the purchase of fixed assets as well as c. €160k interest paid on finance leases. The company also made a c. €1.5m repayment of finance leases while taking on new finance leases worth c. €680k. Cash on the balance sheet stood at c. €83k against a debt balance of c. €1.8m. Net assets increased in FY19 by 10.5% to c. €4.1m. The company is owned by Colm McGrath (38%), Ciaran McGrath (38%) and John McGrath (24%).
Andrew Coyle Coal Limited trades as Coyle Coal and specialises in the importing and wholesaling of coal throughout Ireland. The family business is based in Buncrana, Co. Donegal and imports coal from Colombia, Poland and the UK. In their most recent financial year, the business saw revenue increase by 5.8% to c. €18.3m while EBITDA decreased by 14.4%, or €240k, primarily driven by a c. €120k increase in staff costs. Significant working capital movements and c. €595k invested in fixed assets resulted in the business recognising a net c. €620k decrease in cash during the year, leaving cash on the balance sheet of c. €2.5m. The company is 100% owned by Andrew Coyle.
Who: Irish venture capital group Fountain Healthcare invests in French start-up Inotrem.
What: €5m investment from Fountain adds to €39m raised from new and existing investors in the company last September and brings the company’s series B financing to a final closing amount of €44m.
Why: The investment will be used towards finding a treatment for septic shock.
Source: Irish Times
Who: Starling Bank, a digital bank in the UK founded by former AIB chief operating officer Anne Boden, has raised funding.
What: €71m investment comes from from existing investors, Merian Global Investors and JTC.
Why: The funding will be used for expansion into Ireland and Europe.
Source: Irish Independent
Who: Upstream Working Capital, a Belfast based, US-backed provider of alternative finance is looking to invest in the Republic.
What: €100m funding pot is being made available over the next three years. It has the potential to support transactions of up to €10m per client.
Why: The funding is to support growth-focused Irish companies.
Source: Belfast Telegraph
Who: Dublin-headquartered fintech company Fenergo completes investment round.
What: The latest investment round amounts to €73m and was backed by Dutch bank ABN AMRO. The fundraising also included investment from DXC Technology, a New York listed company that provides business to business IT services.
Why: The money will be used for further product development but also acquisitions that are “strategically important”.
Source: Fora
As a commuter I am a little offended by the drastic conclusion that everybody is referring to in relation to current housing regarding anyone commuting to Dublin from outside is going through “commuter hell” and the suggested solution is city living for everybody who works in Dublin. As a proud Meath native, I am lucky to be living in my native county. I am also lucky in that both my home and office are proximate to both ends of the train line and my commute consists of:
1) a ten minute drive
2) a forty minute ride on the train with a guaranteed seat, a table and non-stop broadband
3) and a ten minute walk or less on Dublin bike on the other side .One hour door to door with forty minutes of getting on top of emails and twenty minutes of good radio.
But as I say. I am flukey with where both sides of train line land. It will take significant investment to afford such access to a wider group. This will not be solved by the next election or even the one after that. It will take significant long term capital investment and planning to get a proper rail network comparable to other European cities. Whoever is in Government at the time these seeds are sown should get mass branding on these lines to say it was their idea so in years to come the relevant parties can accrue the benefit of the oak trees they may plant for future generations and long term national need can transcend myopic electioneering.
PS the effective pie chart of the election outcome probabilities based on odds to the nearest fraction, is a 33% chance of another election, a 33% chance FG/FF with others and a 33% chance of an alternative permutation.
#9 & #47
The world rankings for Dublin and Belfast, respectively, for the most liveable city in the world, according to the research from global mobility experts, ECA (Employment Conditions Abroad) International. @BelTel
18.3%
11.6%
The year-on-year increase in the electric and hybrid new private vehicles licenced in Ireland for January 2020, accounting for one fifth of 20,665 new cars, according to @CSOIreland
6.1%
The estimated year-on-year growth in the Irish GDP for 2019, which was driven by exceptionally strong growth in the exports of pharmaceuticals and chemicals, according to the Central Bank.
@RTEbusiness
8%
The year-on-year increase in the Irish goods exports for 2019 amounting to €152bn, the highest total on record, according to @CSOIreland
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