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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: Prepaid Financial Services (PFS) has been sold to EML payment for AU$526m (€327m). Under the terms of the deal EML will pay an upfront enterprise value of AU$423m (€263m). In addition, there is an earn-out element of up to AU$103m (€64m), conditional on Prepaid Financial achieving certain earnings targets.
PFS is one of the fastest growing financial services, technology companies and e-money payment institutions in Europe which currently operates in 25 countries.
Noel Moran and his wife Valerie Willis who between them own 81.3% of the company and are set to receive up to €266m from the sale. The Irish base is now in Trim with 140 staff, the company also has offices in Malta, London and Manchester.
The most recent set of accounts for Prepaid Financial Services (Ireland) Ltd, which reports in sterling, show the company made a £9.2m sterling EBITDA last year on sales of £64.75m .
EML is a global payment solutions company based in Brisbane, Australia with offices in Australia, North America, United Kingdom and throughout Europe.
The Australian company already has a presence in the Republic having acquired Perfectcard DAC in July 2018. In March of this year, it announced plans to expand its Galway operation by establishing a technology and innovation hub.
Advisers: None mentioned
Renatus Comment:
This is a great story. Noel Moran went straight into work after attending school in Navan, went onto to get Financial Services experience locally and internationally and with no backing or deep pockets set up from scratch at 40 years of age at the start of the recession He then came back to his home town and county with his wife and business partner and has created significant employment via the business directly and is pioneering a Fintech hub in his neighouring town of Trim. He is a big supporter of many sports in Meath, he also sits on local judging panels for business awards. Himself and his wife are investing a reported €50m in a proposed new hotel near Navan. Meath are lucky he and his wife chose to come home to set up the heartbeat of the operations at home. Every county should have a fintech philanthropist entrepreneur. Kerry has Brian McCarthy and Fexco in Kerry with many others following. Galway has Gerard Barry who sold Fintrax(now Planet). Dublin has Colm Lyon.
Source: Prepaid Financial Services
Deal Details: Kainos has announced acquisitions of Formulate (Adaptive) Ltd and Implexa GmbH in Germany in deals understood to be for less than £1m (€1.17m) each.
Kainos Group plc, led by CEO Brendan Mooney, is a software company headquartered in Belfast. It develops information technology solutions for businesses and organisations particularly in the public, healthcare and financial services sectors. The company also provides consulting and support services.
Formulate is a UK and European partner of Adaptive Insights. Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Worcestershire in the UK, Formulate is one of three certified, UK-based Adaptive Insights Solution Providers.
Implexa is the only certified, German-based Adaptive Insights Solution Provider, and adds Hamburg-based consulting capabilities to Kainos’ existing Frankfurt presence. The Implexa team will expand Kainos’ geographical spread in northern Germany.
Advisers: None mentioned
Renatus Comment:
Kainos employs around 1,500 people across eight offices including its headquarters in Upper Crescent in Belfast.
The company’s revenue rose by 29% to £86.9m (€101.47m) over the six months to the end of September, from £67.2m (€78.46m) over the same period a year earlier. Pre-tax profit was up 38% to £12m (€14m).
Source: Kainos
Deal Details: Graphic Controls Group (a US subsidiary in the medical technologies business unit of the global Japanese Nissha Group), has announced that it has concluded a share purchase agreement with the shareholders of Irish medical device manufacturers Advant Medical Group.
The acquisition is scheduled to be completed in mid-December 2019.
Advant Medical Group, which was founded by Bob DiPetrillo, has a manufacturing base in Galway.
The Advant Medical Group is reported to have a significant global share in the manufacture and sale of dispensers for cardiovascular catheters and guide wires.
Graphic Controls Group reported net sales in 2018 of $202.3m (€183.3m) and the Nissha Group is one of Japan’s leading companies across a number of industries.
Advisers: Graphic Controls Group and the Nissha Group were advised by Alan O’Driscoll and John Troute of Flynn O’Driscoll and New York law firm Barclay Damon. Philip Ryan and the team of Galway firm McSweeney Solicitors advised the shareholders of Advant Medical.
Renatus Comment: Advant Medical joins the roll call of the many Irish MedTech success stories that were born and scaled in the West of Ireland before an eventual exit. The West of Ireland and Galway in particular remains one of the world’s leading clusters of MedTech production with nine of the top ten med tech companies in the world having bases in Ireland. We are increasingly seeing successful first generation Irish companies like this grab headlines in the space
Source: Nissha Group
Deal Details: Private healthcare provider UPMC announced the acquisition of Clane General Hospital in County Kildare, in partnership with the Institute of Eye Surgery (IOES), for an undisclosed sum.
UPMC, which stands for University of Pittsburgh Medical Centre, operates over 40 hospitals around the world with more than 8,000 beds, 600 doctors’ offices and over 80,000 employees.
US-based UPMC is best known here as the operator of the Whitfield Clinic in Waterford and it owns and operates joint ventures with a number of private healthcare providers across the country.
The 39-bed hospital will be renamed as UPMC Kildare Hospital. It will support IOES in creating the Ophthalmology Network of Excellence while expanding the hospital’s full range of general surgery and outpatient services. UPMC Kildare will be connected to cutting-edge vision research and clinical trials in Pittsburgh and Paris.
Advisers: Ronan Murray, Deloitte Corporate Finance advised IOES.
Renatus Comment: UPMC has quietly built up a significant foothold in the Irish healthcare market. Since its initial entry to the market in 2006 with the opening of a clinic in Waterford, the group has opened cancer centre in Cork and acquired a what is now UPMC Whitfield Hospital among other ventures. Along the way, UPMC has partnered with regional operators as part of most of their acquisitions, a strategy often used by companies in all sectors to reduce the risks associated with entering a new geography.
Source: UPMC Press Release
Deal Details: fonaCAB, a Belfast taxi firm, has acquired seven taxi companies across the Lurgan, Craigavon and Portadown areas. The value of the acquisitions has not been disclosed.
All staff from acquired companies have been offered a position with fonaCAB.
Cars will be rebranded and staff will wear the company uniform.
Advisers: None mentioned
Renatus Comment: In an industry that has been heavily disrupted by ride-hailing operators and other mobility innovations, fonaCAB appears to be part of a unique niche of taxi operators that are bucking the trend of decreased market share and profitability due to widespread adoption of ride-hailing apps.
Owned entirely by William McCausland fonaCAB has grown revenue and EBITDA from £6.8m and £350k in 2013, respectively, to £21.4m and £2.6m as at the period ending December 2018, a remarkable achievement in five years given the dynamics of the competitive environment it has had to operate in.
Source: Belfast Telegraph
Deal Details: Independent News & Media owner takes 35% stake in an American consultancy firm, Mather Economics. The financial details of the deal have not been disclosed.
Mather Economics is an Atlanta-based consultancy firm that specialises in news industry subscription business models and digital products.
Established in in 2002 by economist Matt Lindsey, Mather Economics has existing relationships with Mediahuis, Schibsted in Norway, Bonnier in Sweden and Le Monde in France.
Advisers: None mentioned
Renatus Comment:
It was expected the new owners of Independent News and media would be sellers of some parts of their business before they would be buyers but this seems key to their core long term strategy of being paid for digital content.
Source: Irish Independent
Deal Details: TLC Nursing Homes, a care home operator owned by Michael Fetherston, has agreed terms to acquire The K Club, the five star hotel and golf resort in Straffan Co. Kildare owned by Michael Smurfit.
Advisers: None mentioned
Renatus Comment: The K Club reported turnover of c. €17.5m and EBITDA of c. €1.3m for its financial year Dec 2018. Debt stands at €81m, including €56m owed to Michael Smurfit.
It is reported that Fetherston plans to close the current conference facilities on the site and open a retirement village. This opening of this new retirement village will add to TLC’s existing four homes in Santry, Raheny, Maynooth and Citywest.
Source: The Sunday Business Post
Deal Details: South Africa-based Spar Group is to acquire the remaining 20% of BWG from fellow shareholders Leo Crawford, John Clohisey and John O’Donnell. The trio is set to sell down their 20% share for c. €82m, with the first tranche of the payment for the share due next month. The first tranche is estimated at €41.5m, with the further tranches of the earn-out payable in 2020 and 2022.
This reported price values the business at €415m.
Spar Group South Africa is a publicly-quoted business with over 4,000 stores and sales of c. €6.8bn annually.
Advisers: None mentioned
Renatus Comment: This is a real circle of fortunes for the three BWG shareholders.
They first acquired the business in 2006 for what was reported to be more than €300m. In 2013, the business was required to complete a debt resturctering with its bankers and needed a debt write off of a reported €100m, leaving it with a debt balance of a reported €130m and a significantly reduced equity value for its shareholders.
In late 2014, the shareholders brought in a new partner, Spar Group South Africa, and sold down 80% of the business at a valuation of a reported €69m – 23% of what they paid for the business in 2006.
Since 2013, there has been significant improvement in the Irish economy and the performance of the BWG business, which now sees this reported new deal value the remaining 20% of the business at c. €82m, an implied value of c. €415m for the whole business.
Source: Sunday Independent
Barry’s Amusements in Portrush, opened in 1926 by Evelyn Chipperfield and Franceso Trufelli, has been put up for sale.
Still run by the Trufelli family, the company will continue employing its 11 full-time staff throughout the sale process.
Business advisory firm Grant Thronton has been appointed to find a buyer.
Source: Belfast Telegraph
Carpetright has agreed terms to sell the business to its biggest shareholder Meditor for £15.2m (€17.74m).
The retailer has debts of about £56m (€65.36m), and has said it needs about £80m (€93.37m) to both pay off debts and give it sufficient cash to grow the business. Meditor became one of Carpetright’s lenders in September if this year when it took over a pile of current and potential loans from NatWest and AIB.
The deal will now go to shareholders for a final vote, however, it is expected to pass with other investors already saying they will back the proposals.
Source: Belfast Telegraph
It is reported that Drinks Inc, a Northern Ireland distribution business is to be sold to the Musgrave Group in a multi-million-pound deal. It is understood that an agreement has been reached in principle however legal discussions are continuing. The deal is expected to be finalised in January.
Drinks Inc, founded by owner Paul Camplisson in 2001, is one of Ireland’s biggest independent drinks distributors.
This follows on from Musgrave’s acquisition of Donnybrook Fair and La Rousse foods last year as the company looks to grow in an increasingly competitive market place. Both Aldi and Lidl have conquered the price-driven end of the market meaning the likes of Musgraves and Dunnes have had to find a different approach for growth.
Source: Irish Independent
The planned takeover of Goodbody Stockbrokers by Bank of China has been formally notified to the CCPC. The deal is reportedly valued at €150m.
The CCPC has initially opened a phase-one preliminary investigation into the planned acquisition, with third parties able to submit observations on the proposed deal up to December 3.
Source: Irish 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 details of key recent executive and board level appointments
Deepbridge Capital appoints new COO and Investment Director
Deepbridge Capital has announced the appointment of Adrian Neilan as COO and also Investment Director of its portfolio of over 35 technology growth companies located across the UK, USA and Australia. Deepbridge Capital is a UK-headquartered venture capital investment manager supporting early-stage technology, life sciences and renewable energy companies. Mr Neilan is joining Deepbridge from Trinity College Dublin where he was Head of its Commercial Revenue Unit for almost 6 years. Mr Neilan has a master’s in computer science and an alumnus of the London Business School.
ByrneWallace appoints new Partner
ByrneWallace has announced the appointment of financial services expert Damien McShane as a partner. Mr McShane has over 10 years’ experience advising on financial services law and regulation. Before joining ByrneWallace, he acted as a legal advisor and executive in a range of roles including at one of Ireland’s leading insurers, and at the Central Bank of Ireland where he specialised in insurance and investment services law as well as the general Irish regulatory framework.
Keystone Law appoints new Licensing expert
Commercial and licensing lawyer Richard McLaughlin has joined Keystone Law as a consultant solicitor. Mr McLaughlin, formerly a solicitor at Joseph Donnelly & Co Solicitors, is a specialist in the areas of leisure, hospitality and licensed trade, he acts for both smaller independent operators and larger chains.
BBDO appoints new Account Director
Katie Cunningham has been appointed account director at creative agency BBDO Dublin. She joins from Rothco | Accenture Interactive. Ms Cunningham previously worked at branding agency RichardsDee and event management agency Limetree.
Blackbee Investments appoints new Chief Risk & Compliance Officer
Sarah Dineen has been appointed as chief risk and compliance officer with investment firm BlackBee Investments. Ms Dineen is the existing head of compliance at BlackBee and has been promoted the new role. She has over 10 years’ experience of working in financial services, within control functions. Prior to joining BlackBee in September 2018, she held a senior compliance role with Barclays Bank Ireland.
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.
The Zoological Society of Ireland is responsible for the operation of Dublin Zoo and the maintenance of Fota Wildlife Park in Cork. For FY18, turnover decreased YoY by 3.2% to c. €20.8m. Gate receipts are the primary driver of revenue, accounting for 67% (c. €14.1m) of income with the remainder coming from membership fees, shop sales and other income. 1.1 million people visited Dublin Zoo in 2018, down by 88k from 2017 while 445k visited Fota Island. This is the eight year in a row that more than one million people have visited Dublin Zoo. EBITDA was down by 26.6% to stand at c. €3.8m. Developing buildings and animal habitats is one of the business’ most significant uses of cash, c. €5.2m was spent on this this in 2018 as the group recognised a net cash decrease of c. €911k. The scoiety an employed an average of 167 people and a cost of c. €7.2m.
| Portwest Unlimited Company, trading as Portwest, is a Mayo-headquartered designer, sourcer and distributor of high-quality protective workwear clothing. The company has been operating for over 110 years, has distribution bases in the UK, Ireland, Poland, Dubai Australia and USA as well as manufacturing facilities in Bangladesh, Myanmar and China. FY19 was a continuation of Portwest’s phenominal growth journey which has seen its revenue grow from 26.2m in FY11 to 185m in FY19, an 8-year compound annual growth rate of 27.7%. In FY19, revenue rose by c. 26% year-on-year to 185m and EBITDA grew by c. 66% to 36.3m. EBITDA outperformance for the period looks to be the result of a 1.4 percentage point increase in gross margins, coupled with a relatively flat admin expenses cost base. There is minimal debt on the balance sheet with 278k debt outstanding versus a period end cash balance of 22.8m. The company is reported to be targeting 1bn in turnover within the next five years and is owned by the Hughes family. |
Cork-based Farm Power Ltd are a John Deere Agricultural and Homeowner Grounds Care dealer that have been in operation in Mallow since 1983. The company also supplies a wide range of top quality agricultural and horticultural equipment from other manufacturers and, in 1989, opened another branch in Castlelyons, Co. Cork. In its most recent financial year, the company saw revenue rise by 26.3% to c. €18.5m while EBITDA increased by an impressive 73.0% to c. €0.9m. The jump in EBITDA was largely due to the decrease in distribution and admin costs relative to revenue growth. The company employed an average of 27 people at a cost of c. €1.2m for the year. There was a net cash increase of c. €265k after working capital movements removed c. €500k of cash as well as a c. €70k tax payment during the year. The company had no debt on the balance sheet and a cash balance of c. €1.7m. Net assets stood at c. €6.7m, up from c. €5.9m the previous year. The company is owned by Gretta Hunt (50%), Adrian Cronin (40%) and Arthur Cronin (10%).
Who: Cork start-up Workvivo, founded by John Goulding, which offers an internal communications platform for companies, has received backing.
What: No financial details of the investment have been disclosed but it is believed to be close to €500,000 from US tech entrepreneur and Zoom founder, Eric Yuan
Why: The investment is to be used to help grow the company’s user base to more than one million by 2021.
Source: Irish Times
Who: Pearl Property Managers Limited has launched a new Residential Equity Fund.
What: €50m fund is backed by State and private sector investors which includes AIB Group plc, Bank of Ireland, Davycrest, the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) and Oyster Capital. Pearl Property Managers Limited founders Ken McCullagh and Martin Scully are also investing in the Fund.
Why: The Fund will support the building of up to 2,000 new homes by small and mid-sized developers over the next three years. The Fund will provide up to €5m in equity for the development of new homes on residential sites with full planning permission and zoned residential sites. It will focus on mid-tier projects of up to 200 units.
Source: Oyster Capital
Who: Bord Bia-headed campaign has secured funding.
What: €3.82m has been co-funded by EU Commission
Why: The funds will be used towards Bord Bia information and promotional campaign promoting European pork and poultry in China and Mexico. The campaign aims to build and strengthen awareness of Europe’s high standards in quality and production of pork and poultry – including those from Ireland – and to build the positive image in those markets as a trusted partner.
Source: Irish Times
Who: Galway-based investigative intelligence start-up Siren has closed a Series A funding round.
What: $10m (€9.06m) investment comes from DVI Equity Partners, Frontline Ventures, Atlantic Bridge and Enterprise Ireland.
Why: The latest round of funding will enable Siren to further develop its proposition and expand into new markets, consolidating its position as an industry leader.
Source: Silicon Republic
Who: Cloudsmith, a Belfast-based tech firm has closed an equity investment round.
What: £2.1m (€2.45m) seed round was led by Frontline Ventures and co-investors MMC Ventures, with local involvement by Techstart Ventures through its Invest NI fund, Techstart.
Why: The funds will be used to ramp-up Cloudsmith’s R&D and marketing capabilities, with a focus on bringing to market the world’s first universal artifact caching service.
Source: privateequitywire
Instead of ‘Thought for the Week’, we are bringing you a weekly tracker using odds from oddschecker and taking off bookmakers margin to come up with deemed percentage probability of outcomes.
There has been no big movement in the past week in the probability of when some sort of Brexit occurs:
By 31 December 2019 5%
H1 2020 64% (49% Q1 +15% Q2)
H2 2020/2021 14%
Not before 2022 17%
——————————————————————————————
With regard to the outcome of the General Election it seemed 50/50 last week whether or not the Conservative s will achieve a majority government. Now the markets are guiding a 68% chance of a majority Conservative government which explains the strengthening of sterling to 85.6p to euro during the week.
If you are not in agreement with any of above you can get the odds here and back your opinion: Oddschecker – Brexit
46.2
The Ulster Bank Construction Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for October, down from 48.3 in September, the sharpest rate of decline since June 2013. Any reading below 50 indicates contraction. @IndoBusiness
5%
The year-on-year increase in the cost of NI properties for Q3 2019 raising the average cost of home to £171,763, the highest in a decade, according to Ulster University’s research. @BelTel
3.9%
The year-on-year rise in the average rent in listed rental homes across the nation for September 2019, with the average rent reaching €1403 per month, according to daft.ie. @rtenews
12.5%
The expected growth in mortgage lending for 2020 amounting to €10.8b, in the meantime the mortgage repayments are expected to amount to €8.8b, the first time the lending overtakes repayment since the financial crisis, according to Davy. @IrishTimes
33%
The year-on-year increase in new home building commencement notices in Ireland for Q3 2019 amounting to 7596 new homes started, according to the Building Control Management System (BCMS). @IrishTimes
0.1% & 5.4%
The year-on-year decline in the agricultural input and output price, respectively, for September 2019, according to @CSOIreland
1.1%
The year-on-year increase in the residential property prices nationwide for September 2019, in the same period the average residential property prices in Dublin decreased by 1.3%, according to @CSOIreland
0.1%
The monthly drop in the retail-sales volumes in the UK for October 2019, compared with 3.1% growth in October 2018, according to @ONS
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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.
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