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: Aperee, the operational arm of BlackBee Healthcare Fund, has completed a transaction to take over the management of the seven Ditchley nursing homes in Cork, Kerry, Kilkenny and Galway for a reported €40m.
Aperee is the operational arm of the BlackBee Healthcare Fund which is a €250m fund allocated for the development of 1,000 new state-of-the-art single en-suite beds and the acquisition of 750 existing beds. Aperee already owns and operates two facilities in Mallow and Tralee which will rise to nine after the Ditchley deal is completed. This will bring the number of beds to just under 500 operated by Aperee.
Advisers: Kieran Regan, Partner at ReganWall, and Ronan Murray, Lead Financial Advisory Partner for Deloitte in Munster advised the Ditchley Group on the transaction.
Renatus Comment: Regulations in this space are likely to get tougher, particularly on space per patient and double rooms etc., and costs to comply with more stringent regulations are likely to come through as a result of Covid and the likely increased budget allocation to stay-at-home options.
However, in spite of all of this, the market size is unlikely to shrink.
Ireland has an aging population and it is predicted by the CSO that those aged 65 and over will increase significantly from c. 630k as of 2016 to c. 1.6m by 2051.
There has been transactional activity in the space this year with the French Nursing Care giant, Orpea Groupe, acquiring TLC Nursing Home portfolio for an estimated €150m. It has also been reported that the Orpea Groupe are interested in buying 50% of Brindley Healthcare, a chain of 10 homes.
Source: The Irish Examiner, BlackBee
Deal Details: Studio Media group has acquired Canadian Tech start-up Darwin CX for $7.46m Candian Dollars (c.€4.77m) from Zoomer Media.
Darwin is a SaaS customer experience orchestration platform that uses AI to drive acquisition and retention for subscription-based companies.
Studio Media Group was created by lead investor and Co-Chairman Liam Lynch to acquire and grow premium media brands and service providers. Studio Media is a premier, cross-platform digital media company with a global reach of over 10m in Ireland and the United States. Most notably the business owns the Irish central website.
Advisers: None mentioned.
Renatus Comment: The Irish Media market has been very active in recent months which has defied the odds of Covid-19. This is a typical buy and build play by Studio Media. By strategically purchasing a company that can complement its existing serving offerings, will no doubt lead to increased cross and up selling synergies.
Source: The Irish Times, Darwin CX
Dundalk-based betting company Boylesports is in advanced negotiations over its fourth acquisition in the UK. This is part of a wider strategic plan to build a significant retail presence in the UK and achieve around 100 regional UK shops, excluding the London area.
They bought Mulholland Bookmakers in Galway last year and Bruce Betting in Dublin earlier this year and had made a number of smart acquisitions when the economy was challenged c. ten years ago.
It is understood that they are also looking at expansion opportunities into North America and Asia.
Source: The Irish Examiner
It is reported that PE firms Carlyle Cardinal Ireland (CCI) and Carlyle Global Financial Services Partners are considering the sale of AA Ireland after they acquired the company in 2016 for c. €156m. It is believed that a bid to buy AA Ireland emerged in the past few months and is currently under active consideration.
In its latest set of published accounts (Jan ’19), the company reported a 3.04% increase in turnover to c. €60.3m while EBITDA was up 0.19% to c. €20.0m.
Source: The Sunday Times
Radio Two Thousand, a subsidiary of Denis O’Brien’s Communicorp, has increased its shareholding in Newstalk after acquiring shares from the Loyola pub and restaurant group for an undisclosed sum.
Following the transaction, Radio Two Thousand will increase its shareholding in Newstalk to over 90%. The company was already the majority shareholder in Newstalk prior to this transaction.
Communicorp is the largest player in Ireland’s independent radio sector and also owns Today FM, 98FM and Spin.
Source: The Sunday Times
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.
Based in Sligo, Coolmine Healthcare operates a nursing home in Dublin with 59 bedrooms and a capacity of 63 residents. The home is currently at full capacity.
In its latest fiscal year, the company saw revenue increase by 3.3% to c. €3.9m while EBITDA also increased by 4.0% to c. €1.1m. There was a net cash increase of c. €5k after negative changes in working capital of c. €120k and loan repayments of c. €410k.
The company employed an average of 71 employees during the year at a cost of c. €1.9m. The company is owned by Maire (50%) and Joseph (50%) Gallagher.
Based in Tyrone, The Foyle Food Group operates nine state-of-the-art meat processing plants throughout the UK and Ireland and is the largest single species food processor in the UK.
In its latest fiscal year, the group saw revenues increase marginally by 2.6% to c. £370.7m. This resulted in a significant increase in EBITDA of 36.9% to c. £10.1m. There was a net cash increase of c. £12.9m after positive movements in working capital of c. £6.7m, fixed asset purchases of c. £1.7m and loan repayments amounting to c. £1.8m.
The company employed an average of 1,284 employees during the year at a cost of c. £36.8m. The company is 100% owned by the Acheson family.
Based in Cork, Lucey Transport is a specialist logistics provider and distributor to the Beverage, Confectionary and Packaging sectors.
In its latest fiscal year, the company saw turnover increase by 8.6% to c. €21.8m. This coupled with increased gross margins led to a 21.0% increase in EBITDA to c. €3.2m. The company had a net cash increase of c. €3.6m after fixed asset purchases of c. €600k and a new loan of c. €1.6m.
The company employed an average of 134 employees during the year at a cost of c. €5.5m. The company is 100% owned by Kevin (56.6%), Ronan (18.87%) and Juan Lucey (24.53%).
Who: Offr, a property tech start-up co-founded by former BidX1 auctioneer Robert Hoban has raised funding. The company provides secure and transparent bidding and transaction technology for the property industry, streamlining the bidding and transaction process for Realtors.
What: €3m in funding led by Barclays Bank and London-based digital marketing firm Jellyfish. Several British and Irish Angel investors have also been involved in the funding round. VCs Frontline Ventures and Enterprise Ireland are among the 30 Backers of Offr. Hogan & Associates provided financial advice.
Why: The funds will be used for expansion and to integrate its technology with large property websites in Ireland and Britain. In addition, its core equity partner Jellyfish will boost Offr’s digital marketing as it seeks expansion in Australia and the UK.
Source: Irish Independent
Who: Dublin-based mineral exploration firm Arkle has raised funds after an offering of 75m new shares at £0.8 pence each. The company is headed by whisky and mining entrepreneur John Teeling.
What: £600k (c.€660k) was raised from the share issuance. This offering has boosted Arkle’s total issuance by c. 25% to 291m, which includes warrants exercisable at £1.2p each.
Why: This will fund the company’s sampling and drilling campaign in a quest for gold in Donegal & Wicklow. In addition, the fund will be directed at the 2021 drilling programmes for zinc in Limerick at the Stone park joint venture and in surrounding areas.
Source: Irish Independent
Who: Diamond exploration company Karelian Diamond Resources has secured funding through a share placing programme.
What: £420k (c.€464k) raised from the share issuance. Brandon Hill Capital Ltd. acted as the company’s broker.
Why: The funds acquired from this will be used for further exploration and technical assessment of its Lahtojoki acreage in the Kuhmo region in Finland.
Source: The Irish Times
Who: Dublin-based virtual reality (VR) remote training company VRAI has secured seed funding. The company co-founded by Niall Campion and Pat O’Connor has developed a cutting-edge VR focused training platform used by customers including the Irish Defence Forces, United Nations, and Jameson to name a few.
What: €1.2m was raised in a seed funding round led by angel investors and Enterprise Ireland.
Why: VRAI intends to deploy these funds into the development of their technology and to increase headcount. The company currently employs 12 people.
Source: The Irish Times
Who: Med24, a London-based healthcare start-up co-founded by an Irishman, has secured funding. Med24 intends to launch Britain’s first membership-based private healthcare service.
What: The company raised a seed funding round of £5m (€5.56m) from a group of high-net worth investors including Dermot Desmond as well as a number of senior figures at several private equity houses.
Why: It has not been disclosed what the funds will be used for but it is believed that the £5m will be used to help accelerate the growth of the business amid the Covid pandemic as well as support its first clinic which was recently opened, a 7,000 sq. ft facility near Paddington in London.
Source: Sunday Business Post
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.
So we can:
#Covid-19
Credit to Kevin Doyle (Group Head of News at Independent News & Media) who posted the above during the week after the government’s latest announcement.
9,853
The number of new company start-ups in H1 2020, the lowest number on record since H1 of 2015 when 8,981 companies were set up. According to CRIF Vision-net. @RTEbusiness
0.7%
The y-o-y decline of Dublin residential property prices in June 2020, with house prices decreasing by 0.9% and apartments increasing by 2.4%. According to @CSOIreland
0.9%
The y-o-y increase of residential property prices excluding Dublin in June 2020, with house prices up by 1.2% and apartments down by 1.3%. According to @CSOIreland
3.8%
The y-o-y decline of air freight handled by Irish airports in Q2 2020, meaning over 32,500 tonnes of goods passed through Irish airports during this period amid strong pharma exports and PPE imports. According to @CSOIreland
0.4%
The y-o-y rise in Euro Area inflation as of July 2020, meanwhile Ireland was -0.6%, according to @EU_Eurostat
22%
The y-o-y decline in the number of homes for sale nationwide as of August 1st 2020, with just 19,538 properties available, a 14-year low. According to @daftmedia . @IrishTimesBiz
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.
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.
