Navy-Blue-Logotype-1Navy-Blue-Logotype-1Navy-Blue-Logotype-1Navy-Blue-Logotype-1
  • Business Owners
  • Management Partners
  • Team
  • Portfolio
    • Boojum
    • Simtech
    • Rennicks
    • CRS
    • Kappture
    • Allied Imports Group
    • AQF Medical
    • Irish Rollforming
    • Herdwatch
  • Newsletter
    • Podcast
    • Knowledge Centre
      • The Real Deal 2020
      • The Real Deal 2019
      • The Real Deal 2018
  • Careers
  • Contact
Renatus’ Weekly M&A Newsletter – 16/06/2019
June 16, 2019
Renatus’ Weekly M&A Newsletter – 02/06/2019
June 2, 2019
June 23, 2019

GPP announces the growth recapitalization of SteriPack, Cork-based Zenith Technologies is acquired by Cognizant, St. Stephen's Green Shopping Centre puts shares up for sale and Boots shows strong growth for 2018, and more in this weeks newsletter.

Renatus Private Equity Dublin, Ireland

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.

M&A ACTIVITY

Great Point Partners recapitalises SteriPack

Deal Details: Great Point Partners (“GPP”), a Greenwich, Connecticut-based private investment firm focused on the health care industry, announced the growth recapitalization of SteriPack.

SteriPack was founded by Garry Moore in 1994 and is headquartered in Mullingar with facilities in Poland, Malaysia and the United States. It is a leading contract manufacturing and value-added services company serving the medical device and pharmaceutical industries.

Advisers: Conor Barry of XMS Capital Partners was the corporate finance advisor to GPP having advised Bemis Inc on the acquisition of the SteriPack Healthcare Packaging business in 2016. Maples Group led by partners Deirdre McCarthy and Will Darmody provided legal advice to GPP.

Renatus Comment: GPP and SteriPack look set to build on their existing success by acquiring a number of complementary bolt-ons, a path that can lead to exceptional growth. It is a great case study whereby the founder got a lot of chips off the table but stayed on to help the company realise its potential and make even more money in the process.

Source: Green Point Partners Press Release

Cork-based Zenith Technologies acquired by Cognizant

Deal Details: Cork-based life sciences software company Zenith Technologies is being bought by US firm Cognizant for an undisclosed sum.

The Ringaskiddy-headquartered firm founded by Brendan O’Regan specialises in implementing digital technologies to manage, control and optimise drug and medical device production. They recorded revenue of c. €85.5m and EBITDA of c. €9.9m for FY18.

New owner Cognizant, a multinational headquartered in New Jersey provides a range of IT services, including digital, technology, consulting and operations services. Cognizant recently acquired another Irish Company, Dublin-based financial services software firm Meritsoft. Cognizant had revenue of c. $16.3bn for FY18.

Advisers: M&A sell side assistance was provided by Deloitte’s Financial Advisory team in Munster led by Partner Ronan Murray with additional support from his M&A Partner colleagues Jan Fitzell & Anya Cummins.  ReganWall, led on the deal by Adam Griffiths, provided legal advice. Cognizant were advised on legals by Arthur Cox.

Renatus Comment: Ever since Cork became a hub for pharma and related sciences, there has been a stream of successful indigenous companies who have scaled by finding a niche in the value chain or who have ultimately grown to challenge multinationals who took up residence there. As we have mentioned many times here foreign direct investment to Ireland can spawn world class indigenous entrepreneurs and companies  in those sectors.

Source: Cognizant Press Release

Softcom acquired by ADP

Deal Details: Softcom has been acquired by US enterprise software giant ADP. No terms for the acquisition have been disclosed.

Softcom provides managed payroll services, human resource management, online payslips and P60 solutions to clients in the Irish and UK markets and previously had partnerships with ADP. At the end of FY17, Sotfcom were not obliged to file P&L statements but from reading the balance sheet, they clearly were making over €1m a year and had accumulated cash of €6.7m at December 2017.

ADP is headquartered in New Jersey, the company’s services include payroll management, HR outsourcing and compliance automation, with clients in 140 countries.

Advisers: None mentioned.

Renatus Comment: It’s unusual to see a share register for a technology company that is  100% owned by the same family. It is a great achievement by Gerry, Patricia and Patrick Reidy who own 100% between them.

Source: ADP Press Release

Slack goes public

Deal Details: Slack has gone public on the New York Stock Exchange through a direct listing at $38.50 a share at the beginning of trading. Slack’s post-public valuation lies in the region of $20bn.

US-based Slack is a cloud based set of proprietary team collaboration software tools and online services.

Slack were backed by a16z venture investors as part of its Series B fundraise and by Stripe’s Collison brothers, John and Patrick, when they participated in Slack’s series C in 2014.

Advisers: None mentioned.

Renatus Comment: While it may be unusual too see a fundraise  in this section, it is Irishman John O’Farrell’s investment in Slack that caught our eye. His company, a16z led the series B funding round in Slack and he recounts the journey in his blog here: a16z – Slack

Source: Bloomberg, a16z

Artelo lists shares on the Nasdaq

Deal Details: Artelo BioSciences Inc., a clinical-stage biopharma company, has raised c. $8.0m through a listing of shares on the Nasdaq Capital Market. Artelo has offices in Dublin and San Diego.

Artelo focuses on accelerating the development and commercialisation of a diverse portfolio of novel, endocannabinoid system modulating therapeutics. Their aim is ultimately the delivery of new medicines to help with a wide range of diseases.

Advisers: Maxim Group LLC acted as sole book-running manager for the offering.

Renatus Comment: Artelo was founded by Peter O’Brien and Greg Gorgas just three years ago. This share offering marks another step in the company’s growth journey which looks set to kick on from here.

Source: Global News Wire

DEALS IN THE MAKING

St. Stephen’s Green Shopping Centre shares up for sale

Deal Details: Up to 62% of shares in the iconic St. Stephen’s Green shopping centre are reportedly on the market at a guide valuation of €130m for the 62%. The shares in question are held by New York-headquartered Madison International Realty and businessman Pierce Molony, and comprise individual holdings of 35.4 per cent and 27 per cent respectively. It is understood that the remaining shares, reportedly owned by  Irish Life, are not for sale.

Source: Irish Times

ESB and Coillte mull a Joint Venture

Deal Details: ESB is engaged in discussions with Coillte regarding the creation of a new joint venture focusing on renewable energy. According to ESB, subject to approval, construction of the projects would commence in the early 2020s.

Source: ESB Press Release

EXECUTIVE & BOARD APPOINTMENTS

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

Deloitte appoints eight new partners in Ireland
Yvonne Byrne, Ciaran McGovern and Ruairí Mitchell have become partners in the Consulting practice; Matthew Dolan and Vincent McCullagh are partners in the tax practice; Brian Fennelly is now a partner in the financial advisory practice; John Kehoe is a partner in audit and assurance and Laura Wadding has become a partner in the risk advisory practice. This announcement follows Harry Goddard’s recent promotion to CEO of Deloitte Ireland at the start of June.  Mr Goddard succeeded Brendan Jennings as CEO of Deloitte Ireland earlier this month and was previously head of the consulting practice at Deloitte, he has over 20 years’ experience in the professional services and consulting industries.

Holmes O’Malley Sexton Solicitors appoints six new partners in Dublin and Limerick
Holmes O’Malley Sexton Solicitors has announced the appointment of six new partners in Dublin and Limerick across the firm’s litigation, insurance, commercial property and private client practices. The new partners are Lorraine Power, Pat McInerney, Michael Murphy, Anna Owens, Wayne Finn and Piarais Neary. Following their appointment, the firm now has 14 partners across four offices, having opened a Cork office in 2018 and a London office in 2017. Ms Power and Mr McInerney have both been made partner in the firm’s property, corporate and commercial departments. Ms Power acts for some of Ireland’s leading developers, State and semi-state bodies and investment funds, while Mr McInerney specialises in commercial litigation and dispute resolution, data protection, regulation and defamation. Mr Murphy, Ms Owens, Mr Finn and Mr Neary have all been made partners in the firm’s litigation department.

CC Solicitors appoints Claire Dawson as partner
Specialist employment law practice CC Solicitors has announced the appointment of Claire Dawson as partner in the firm. Ms Dawson is the second partner to join the Dublin-based firm this year, following the promotion of Regan O’Driscoll to partner in February. She returns to Ireland from London, where she has practised for over 17 years

COMPANY PERFORMANCE

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 Irish operations of Boots, the health and beauty retailing giant, has filed accounts for its 2018 financial year. Boots showed resilience against increasing pressure facing high street retailers as it experienced top line growth of 2.0% to bring revenue to c. €386.2m which converted to c. €30.2m EBITDA, up 12.8% from a year previous.  Boots has an 87 store estate in Ireland with the average store generating revenue of c. €4.4m. An average of 1,647 people were employed across Ireland by Boots during the year at a cost of c. €65.1m, an average cost per employee of c. €39.5k. There was a cash balance of c. €5.1m at the end of the year while net assets stood at c. €123.7m. Boots Ireland is owned by the Walgreens Boots Alliance Limited.

Cavan-based Wilton Recycling is a comprehensive waste management company which provides services including domestic bin collection, refined recycling services and skip hire to name a few. Wilton Recycling is a family-run business with Rodney Wilton the latest Wilton family member to steward the company. In their most recent financial year, Wilton Recycling experienced strong revenue and EBITDA growth with a 21.0% increase to c. €20.5m and a 12.2% increase to c. €2.6m respectively. Revenue is effectively evenly split between the UK and Ireland, not surprising given the company’s border location. Wilton Recycling  recorded a c. €72k net decrease in cash for the year. Cash in the business was put to use as dividends of €1.0m were paid while c. €750k was invested in assets and c. €480k was spent in respect of loans and leases. Wilton Recycling is wholly owned by Rodney Wilton.

Manshire Limited trades as the Maryborough Hotel, a 4-star hotel set in an 18th century building in Douglas, just outside of Cork city. In a positive year for the company, revenue increased by 3.2% to c. €8.8m while EBITDA increased by 16.9% to c. €1.3m. Gross margins increased by one percentage point which, when coupled with steady overhead expenses, allowed the EBITDA expansion. The directors cited increased occupancy levels and demand for conferences and functions are primary contributors to the positive movement in revenue growth. The hotel is a likely beneficiary of the increasing number of domestic trips by Irish residents as well as the continued growth of tourism here.  There was a net increase in cash of c. €280k which left an ending balance of c. €356k against a debt free balance sheet. The Maryborough Hotel is wholly owned by Josephine and Daniel O’Sullivan.

RECENT FUNDRAISINGS

Who: Yew Grove REIT, the real estate investor which holds a diversified portfolio of Irish commercial property assets, has raised funding.

What: The company which is listed on both the Dublin and London stock exchanges raised €10m in a share offering. An Investec team led by Tommy Conway were Nomad and ESM adviser to the company and joint broker and bookrunner along with Goodbody on the transaction.

Why:  The specific purpose of the funds was not disclosed.

Source: Yew Grove REIT

Who: Uniphar, the diversified healthcare services group, is set to raise funding.

What: Uniphar will reportedly raise funding by listing on the Euronext in Dublin at some point this year. It is understood that the flotation will net Uniphar c. €150m. It is reported that Davy and RBC have been appointed as joint book runners.

Why: The purpose us to fund further acquisitions and growth plans while also reducing debt.

Source: RTE

Who: UK-based transport booking app Trainline has raised funding by way of a public offering. Trainline is led by Irishwoman Clare Gilmartin.

What:
 Trainline listed on the London Stock Exchange at 350p a share.

Why:
 The fundraise will be used to raise the company’s profile and expand the business. It also marks a return for KKR who bought the business in 2015 from Exponent Private Equity.

Source: Sunday Independent

Who: Kidlare-based CathX Ocean, which specialises in the underwater imaging and measurement industry, has raised funding. The company was set up in 2009 by Michael Flynn and Adrian Boyle.

What: It is reported that Mel Fitzgerald, former Suretank chairman, has invested €125k while Hugh O’Donnell has also invested €125k.

Why:
 The specific reason or purpose for the fundraise was not made public.

Source: The Sunday Times

Who: Swoop, an Irish fintech start-up founded by Andrea Reynolds is a platform which helps businesses get access to loans quickly, has raised funding.

What: Swoop has been awarded a grant of c. €5.6m from a fund that was established by RBS as a condition of its bailout to promote the UK’s small business banking sector.

Why:  The funds will reportedly be used to help Swoop expand its presence in Ireland and the UK.

Source: The Irish Times

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK

I attended a very interesting breakfast seminar on branding hosted by The Pudding and Brand Finance

The Pudding are brand builders and Brand Finance help value brands.

Brand Finance have a Global Intangible Finance Tracker (GIFT™) which tracks public listed stocks Enterprise Value compared to tangible net asset value. They showed that 52% of the total value was intangible and a company’s brand would be a big part of that intangible value. It served to remind us that executed well, money spent on brand can be a game changing investment.

@RenatusCapital Tweets

6.3%

The year-on-year decrease in manufacturing costs in May 2019. @CSOIreland

3.5%

The year-on-year decrease in granted planning permission for houses and apartments for Q1 2019, amounting to 7,493 total units.@CSOIreland

13.4%

The year-on year increase of domestic trips taken by Irish residents in 2018, meanwhile the outbound trips increased by 5.8%.@CSOIreland

3.03%

The average mortgage interest rate in Ireland in April 2019, the second highest in the euro zone, compared to the EU average of 1.7% according to the @centralbank_ie. @examinerbiz

ABOUT RENATUS

Renatus was established in 2014 by Mark Flood and Brendan Traynor to provide growth funding to growing Irish SMEs and to partner with ambitious management teams to help companies reach their full potential.
Renatus targets companies with sustainable earnings of €1m+ and valuations of €5m and above. Our typical solutions include:
  • Succession Planning
  • Management Buyouts / Buy-Ins
  • Funding for organic growth
  • Acquisition Funding; and
  • Share Sales
Management Partners
Business Owners

OUR INVESTMENTS

LEARN MORE…

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.

Visit the Knowledge Centre

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.

 

Subscribe to our Newsletter
Share

Ground Floor,    Harmony Court,
Dublin 2,                          D02 RH68

T: +353 | 1 5549269
E: info@renatus.ie

Business Owners
Management Partners
Team
Portfolio
Newsletter
Podcast
Knowledge Centre
Contact

© 2023 Copyright
Renatus Capital Partners.

All Rights Reserved

Privacy Policy

    Adrian Stackpoole, Digital Marketing Associate

    • Adrian joined Renatus in 2018, initially as a Marketing Executive before moving into the role of Digital Marketing Associate. As part of his role, Adrian manages all the digital marketing aspects of Renatus as well as conducting digital research for portfolio companies.
    • Adrian holds with a BBS degree in Marketing and Entrepreneurship from the University of Limerick, as well as a Postgraduate degree from The Digital Marketing Institute.
    • Prior to joining Renatus, Adrian worked in New York with a start-up hospitality group, specalising in marketing and operations.
    TIERNAN O’HAGAN

    Tiernan O’Hagan, Associate

    • Tiernan recently joined Renatus Capital Partners as a Private Equity Associate. As part of his role, he researches and analyses the potential of new investments and acquisitions
    • Tiernan graduated with a B.Sc in business and law from DIT Aungier street & an MSc. in Entrepreneurship from Trinity College Dublin.
    • Previously worked with Capnua Corporate Finance for three months during a summer internship.
    • Tiernan is also in the process of sitting ACCA exams.
    Bronagh Kearns Renatus

    Bronagh Kearns, Associate

      • Bronagh recently joined Renatus as a Private Equity Associate. As part of her role, she will be researching and executing investment opportunities.
      • Bronagh holds a MSc in Quantitative Finance from UCD Michael Smurfit Business School and a BSc in Finance from University College Cork. Currently, Bronagh is in the process of obtaining the ACCA qualification.
      • Prior to joining Renatus, Bronagh worked as an Investment Banking Analyst in Rubicon Capital Advisors where she worked on M&A transactions on the execution side and financial modelling in the infrastructure sector. She also worked as an Investment Associate in River and Mercantile Solutions in London quantitatively screening different investment opportunities across all asset classes.
    Alan Manning Renatus

    Alan Manning, Associate

    • Alan joined Renatus Capital Partners in September 2021 as a Private Equity Associate. As part of his role, Alan researches and analyses potential investments and acquisitions.
    • Alan holds a B.Sc Finance from University College Cork.
    • Previously working in KPMG’s Consulting division, with the Financial Management Consulting team. During his time there he was engaged on a Finance Function Review for a European Travel Technology firm, and a review of the cash management strategy of an Irish Commercial Bank.
    • In the process of sitting ACCA exams.

    Conor Hall, Associate

    • Conor joined Renatus Capital Partners in June 2018 as a Private Equity Associate. As part of his role, Conor researches and analyses potential investments and acquisitions.
    • Conor holds an M.Sc. in Quantitative Finance from UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School and a B.Sc. in Economics & Finance from UCD. He is currently working towards attaining the ACCA and CFA qualifications.
    • Prior to joining Renatus, Conor worked as an Analytics Analyst with Accenture, specialising in predictive modelling for fraud.

    Kyle Barry, Associate

    • Kyle joined Renatus Capital Partners in June 2016 as a Private Equity Associate. As part of Kyle’s role, he researches and analyses the potential of new investments and acquisitions.
    • Since joining, Kyle has worked on numerous transactions, including Simtech and Rennicks, and has worked with Renatus’ investee companies on a number of strategic projects.
    • Kyle holds an MSc. in Quantitative Finance (University College Dublin) and a BA Finance (Maynooth University). Currently, Kyle is in the process of completing the ACCA qualification.
    • Prior to joining Renatus, Kyle spent 15 months in Intel’s Finance department where he worked across the financial reporting, tax and capital financing teams.

    Philip Gardiner, Associate Director

    • Philip is an Associate Director with Renatus Capital Partners, having first joined the firm as its first employee in 2014.
    • Philip has responsibility for screening, assessment and structuring of new acquisitions.
    • He has worked on a number of transactions at Renatus including Boojum Mexican Restaurants and Simtech Aviation. Philip works actively with the boards of Boojum and Simtech Aviation.
    • Prior to joining Renatus, Philip spent four years in AIB’s corporate banking team where he worked on a mix of real estate and cash flow lending deals.
    • Philip is a member of the ACCA and holds an MSc. in Financial Services and a Bachelor in Business Studies, both from the University of Limerick.

    Jane Martin, Marketing and Administration Manager

    • Jane joined Renatus Capital Partners in June 2019 as a Marketing and Administration Manager. As part of Jane’s role, she writes the weekly newsletter, works on the CRM and looks after the admin and ad hoc tasks
    • Prior to joining Renatus, Jane worked as a Senior Account Manager in Mace Promotions where she worked closely with many SMEs as well as large corporations on their marketing projects

    Mark Flood, Director

    • Mark co-founded Renatus with Brendan Traynor in 2014. Prior to establishing Renatus, Mark spent seven years on the senior management team of the Racing Post in various operational and commercial roles. Before founding Renatus, Mark was Managing Director of the Racing Post’s Irish operation.
    • Prior to his career in the Racing Post, Mark was the first employee of FL Partners, an Irish based international private equity firm, where he was actively involved in over €300m worth of transactions.
    • Mark combines his financial, operational and commercial experience to bring value and energy to all partner companies.
    • Mark is a Chartered Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Commerce and Masters in Accounting from NUI Galway.

    Brendan Traynor, Director

    • Brendan is a co-founder of Renatus. Prior to establishing Renatus, he was a Director in BDO Corporate Finance specialising in M&A, MBO’s/MBI’s, debt and private equity fundraising across a diverse range of sectors and clients.
    • His career focus and passion is the Irish SME sector and his deal expertise covers sectors such as retail, manufacturing, FMCG, healthcare, avaiation, media, medical devices, food and agriculture, construction, and hotels and leisure.
    • Brendan is a Chartered Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Commerce from University College Dublin

    Conor Mehigan, Associate Director

    • Conor joined Renatus Capital Partners in 2021 as an Associate Director. Conor has responsibility for screening, assessment and structuring of new investments and acquisitions.
    • Prior to joining Renatus, Conor spent five years in IBI Corporate Finance specialising in M&A, debt and private equity fundraising for private and public companies across a range of sectors. Prior to his career in IBI Corporate Finance, Conor spent four years in Deloitte’s Corporate Finance Division, specialising in Transaction Services
    • Conor is a Chartered Accountant and holds a BSc in Finance from University College Cork

    Greg Dilger, Strategic Advisor

    • Greg Dilger is a former Executive Director of NCB Stockbrokers and Investec Wealth & Investment.
    • He is an investor and advisor to Renatus and brings years of relevant experience to our team.
    • Greg is also currently a Non-Executive Director of Brewin Dolphin Ireland.
    Patrick Dooley Renatus

    Patrick Dooley, Associate Director

    • Patrick joined Renatus in November 2022 as an Associate Director. Patrick has responsibility for screening, assessment and structuring of new investments and acquisitions.
    • Patrick previously held leading positions in Focus Capital Partners, PKF O’​Connor, Leddy & Holmes & EY.
    • Patrick is a charted accountant and holds a Bachelor of Accounting and Finance degree from DCU, along with a Masters degree in Accounting from TUD.

    John Dwyer, Chairman

    • John joined Renatus in 2018 as a Chairman. Prior to Renatus, John spent 30 years at PwC in the UK, 20 years as a Partner, John led the UK and Global Deals business at PwC and was an executive board member of the UK firm.
    • Prior to that, John led the UK and Global Private Equity business at PwC and worked with firms including 3i Group, Apax Partners, CVC Capital Partners and Cinven.
    • John is married to Natasha and they have three children. John works between Dublin and London and his charity work includes chairmanship of Irish Youth Foundation UK.
    • He is an advisor and Board member of Irish digital marketing firm Pigsback and media firm Racing Post.
    • John is a Chartered Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Commerce from UCD.