Renatus’ Weekly M&A Newsletter – 21/11/2021
November 21, 2021Renatus’ Weekly M&A Newsletter – 05/12/2021
December 5, 2021
Renatus Weekly M&A & Company Performance Private Equity Newsletter 28/11/2021
Dear Reader,
Please find below this week’s newsletter covering the latest M&A, company performance, fundraisings and executive moves.
M&A ACTIVITY
Glantus acquires MCB
Deal Details: Glantus, an Irish provider of accounts payable software solutions, has acquired British recovery audit consultant Meridian Cost Benefit (MCB) in a deal reportedly worth up to €3.61m.
Glantus, founded in 2014 and led by Maurice Healy, is a global provider of accounts payable automation and analytics solutions. Headquartered in Dublin, it also has offices in London and New York.
MCB offers cash recovery and process improvements to organizations across all major business sectors. The business was established in 2003 and is based in St. Albans, England.
Advisors: None mentioned
Renatus Comment: This is Glantus’s second acquisition since its IPO in May of this year. At the time, it raised €10m through the listing at a market cap of c. £37m and a share price of c. £1.02. At the close of markets on Friday, its share price was down c. 11.76% at £0.90. However, it did get a positive bump on Friday after the announcement, moving up from £0.84 to £0.90 (+7.1% in the day). At the time of the listing, analysts estimated the global accounts payable market to be worth c. £2bn and growing at >10% pa. It is a huge market opportunity for Glantus.
Source: Irish Times
LocalEyes acquired by STAR7
Deal Details: Cork-based LocalEyes has been acquired by Milan-listed STAR7 in a deal worth €25m.
LocalEyes is a Cork-based translation and localisation specialist that was established in 1997 to provide content services for Apple, which has its European headquarters in Cork.
STAR7 is an Italian provider of product content creation and management solutions. The company had 2020 turnover of >€43m, with an EBITDA margin of around 10%. The company has also reported growth in the first 6 months of 2021 of more than 43% versus the same period last year.
Advisors: EMINTAD Italy acted as financial advisors to STAR7, BDO provided financial due diligence and Gianni & Origoni provided legal counsel.
Renatus Comment: LocalEyes, owned by a Swiss based holding company, Cubic Venture, has 12 offices employing 150 people. In 2020 it generated €18.2m of turnover, which converted to an EBITDA of €4m. STAR7 already provides localisation services to its customers and its acquisition of LocalEyes is expected to it access to new customers and bigger scale. In 2020, STAR7 had revenues of over €61m.
Source: STAR7 Press Release
Telcom is acquired by Radius
Deal Details: Radius Payment Solutions has made a majority investment in Telcom, a Dublin-based voice and data service provider, for an undisclosed amount.
Telcom, established in 1999, is a privately-owned ISP, unified communications and managed services specialist. The company specialises in business-to business voice and data services and offers direct managed fibre services across all sectors and industries. Telcom is wholly owned by Liam Tully. The business had net assets at December 2020 of €875k, an increase of €738k YOY.
Radius is a global business services company founded in the UK in 1990. It now operates in 18 countries across 5 continents. The business is led by CEO Bill Holmes. Radius’ operates five divisions: fuel cards, telematics solutions, telecom and connectivity solutions, insurance and EV charging stations.
Advisors: James Doody and Richard Tighe of IBI Corporate Finance provided Corporate Finance advice for Telcom. Brendan Murphy of Roberts Nathan provided sell-side tax advisory.
Renatus Comment: This is Radius’s 18th acquisition since 2016, and its seventh so far in 2021, according to S&P Cap IQ. Radius has successfully leveraged M&A as a strategy to both expand its range of services and enter new markets.
Source: Telcom
BoyleSports acquires remaining Tully Bookmakers shops
Deal Details: Boylesports, Ireland’s largest independent bookmaker, is to acquire the remaining 10 Tully Bookmakers’ betting offices, subject to regulatory approval. The deal consideration was not disclosed.
Meath-based Tully Bookmakers was one of the last remaining mid-scale betting chains in Ireland. Tully opened its first shop in 1977 and had 37 shops at its height. It is owned by the Paul Tully. The company had FY20 turnover of €19.6m, which converted to an EBITDA of €265k.
Boylesports, headquartered in Co Louth, acquired the first 6 Tully shops in 2015. It now operates 286 betting outlets in the country.
Advisors: None mentioned
Renatus Comment: The bookmaking sector has gone through almost full consolidation with few independent shops remaining. The economies of scale and shift to online by the larger bookmakers has made the independent bookmaker model challenging. Added to this is the doubling of betting tax to two per cent in 2018, which Tully’s owner Paul Tully cited as a key factor in his decision to sell, along with the impact of Covid-19.
Source: Racing Post
Iconic Images acquired by ABG
Deal Details: Iconic Images Limited has been acquired by New York-based Authentic Brands Group (ABG) for £20m.
Iconic Images, headquartered in Dublin, owns and manages some of the world’s most famous photography archives.
It brings long standing active relationships within key markets around the world including New York City, Paris, Los Angeles, Dubai, and Tokyo.
Holding company Urban Territory Limited is the largest stakeholder in the business with a 35.83% share, with Kiersten Ruppert following with 20.4% ownership. The company had net assets at December 2020 of €5.3m.
Authentic Brands Group (ABG) is an American brand management company headquartered in New York, with holdings in various apparel and entertainment brands. ABG has over 30 brands across 6,300 stores.
The company reported revenues of $489m in 2020, with earnings of $200m. The company is led by CEO and founder Jamie Salter.
Advisors: Conor Mullany & Elaine Keane of MWM provided legal advice to Iconic Images Limited.
Renatus Comment: The acquisition sees ABG expand its current offering to include a new Fine Arts vertical within their entertainment portfolio. The company will now manage the rights to the entire Iconic Images photography archive. Marc Rosen, President of ABG Entertainment, highlighted Iconic Images as a natural fit to ABG’s portfolio, which is already home to iconic industry names such as Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe and Muhammad Ali.
Source: MWM Press Release
AIB sells UK SME loan book
Deal Details: AIB has agreed the sale of its British small-business loan book to Allica Bank, a London-based challenger lender, for c. €715m.
Allica Bank, a fintech challenger bank, only received its full UK banking authorisation in 2019 and is backed by London investment firm, Warwick Capital Partners. The business generated FY20 revenues of £739k, seeing a rise in net assets YOY of c. £14.8m. It is led by Chief Executive Richard Davies, previously of Revolut.
Advisors: None mentioned
Renatus Comment: It is reported that AIB’s exit from the SME segment of the UK market will save the bank approximately €35m over the next few years. This loan sales continues AIB’s efforts to cleanse its book of non-performing or loss-making loans and follows its recent €400m non-performing mortgage portfolio to a consortium led by Mars Capital.
Source: Irish Times
Industrial Paint Solutions acquired by EQI
Deal Details: Northern-Irish company Industrial Paint Solutions has been acquired by EQI Ltd for undisclosed amount.
Industrial Paint Solutions Ltd, founded by Richard Graham, has developed market-leading expertise in powder coating and painting of specialist components. The company had net assets at April 2021 of €1.3m, an increase of 10% YOY.
EQI Ltd is a US-based is a provider of global metal castings, forgings, and fabrications, EQI simplifies the supply chain for the world’s leading heavy-equipment OEMs.
Advisors: Richard Moorehead of HNH acted as lead advisor on this transaction.
James Donnelly of Tughans provided sell side legal support.
Renatus Comment: The acquisition will provide EQI with its first European base and add to its offices in the US (its HQ) and Beijing.
Source: HNH
DEALS IN THE MAKING
LC Financial bids to acquire Link business unit
Deal Details: Dublin-based LC Financial has made a €65m bid for Australia-based Link Group’s banking and credit management business.
LC Financial consists of Link Financial Group, a credit management business, LCM Partners, a credit investment business and LDMS, a credit software business.
Link Group is Australia’s largest pension management group with c. €50m of assets under management. The business employs over 950 people and serves over 5 million customers.
Source: Irish Times
HealthBeacon announces IPO plans
Deal Details: Irish medtech company, HealthBeacon, is to raise €25m through an IPO.
HealthBeacon is the world’s leading digital health platform for injectable medications. The company is based in Dublin and was co-founded in 2013 by Jim Joyce & Kieran Daly. Joyce and Daly currently operate as Chief Executive Officer and Chief Technology Officer respectively. The company is listed as having net assets at December 2020 of €7.2m, an increase of 30% YOY.
The money to be raised via the share sale will equate to a reported 25% share of the company. This means the company will be valued at approximately €100m when it goes public next month. The company plans to list on Euronext Dublin’s junior market.
Source: Irish Times
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
Based out of Rathcoole, Co. Dublin, Catering Disposals Limited is a provider of disposable catering and hygiene products. Catering Disposals was founded in 2003 and originated from ‘Vending Products’ which was established in 1970. Its offering includes disposable containers, cups, paperware, cutlery, PPE, and more.
Catering Disposals Limited reported a turnover of c. €19.1m in FY 2020, which converted to an EBITDA of c. €2.1m. This represents an increase of c. 25.1% and c. 70.2% respectively. Significant post EBITDA cash movements included repayments of short term loans of c. €577k, and movement in long term financing of c. €341k. The business closed FY 2020 with a negative closing cash and cash equivalents balance of c. €359.4k.
The business employed an average of 34 people throughout 2020 at a total cost of c. €1.45m. The business is owned and operated by James Dowling (Snr), James Dowling (Jnr), Sharon Dowling, and Ursula Dowling.
McSharry Pharmacy Limited operates several retail pharmacies. The business is based in Ballybrit, Co. Galway. It is wholly owned by Ray McSharry.
In the financial year to December 2020, McSharry Pharmacy Limited generated turnover of €12.7m, an increase of 3.4% YoY, which converted to an EBITDA of €1.2m, an increase of 41.9% YoY. This increase can be partly explained by a reduction in administrative expenses of c. €331k.
The business finished the year with a cash balance of c. €215k, an increase of c. €99k YoY. The business employed an average of 84 people at an annual cost of c. €2.6m.
RECENT FUNDRAISINGS
Who: Fonoa, a Dublin-headquartered tax automation provider. The business was founded in 2020 by three ex-Uber staff, Ivan Ivankovik, Davor Tremac, and Filip Sturman.
What: The business has raised €22m in funding. The funding round was led by Index Ventures and included other investors such as Omers Ventures, Kevin Hartz and Gautam Gupta.
Why: Fonoa already has a team spanning across 14 countries and this funding will go toward hiring new staff in the US, Europe, Asia, and South America.
Source: Irish Times
Who: TeamABC, a Dublin-based travel tech fund, backs Searoutes in its seed round. Searoutes, founded in 2019 in France, has developed a digital solution for reducing carbon emissions from freight transport.
What: Searoutes raised €2.4m in a seed round, with TeamABC as one of the backers. This is TeamABC’s third investment.
Why: The funding will be used to fund Searoutes growth plans.
Source: Irish Times
Who: Elgin Energy, a UK solar and storage developer.
What: €29.6m was raised through convertible loan notes – debt where investors have the option of converting to shares.
Why: The funds will be used to pay for solar power and battery storage projects capable of generating more than 5,000MW of electricity in its key markets by 2025.
Advisors: Jack O’Keeffe, Focus Capital, led the fundraise for Elgin Energy.
Source: Irish Times
Who: Riley, an eco-friendly period product subscription service.
What: The company has raised €400k in funding.
Why: The funding will be used to grow the team, develop more products, and on a large digital marketing campaign.
Source: Irish Independent
EXECUTIVE AND BOARD APPOINTMENTS
We in Renatus believe that more important than the deals are the people and we are pleased to provide you with details of key recent executive and board-level appointments.
THOUGHT OF THE WEEK
Anyone a little tired, however relevant and important, of reading, listening and tuning into:
The Great Reassessment;
The Great Retirement;
Omicron;
Inflation; and
Lockdown,
Needs to take a break and watch the EY Entrepreneur of the Year (https://go.renatus.ie/e/
When we got to the pudding to review what we are in Renatus, one of our core defining values was “love of small business”, and that extends to love of entrepreneurs.
We still pinch ourselves thinking that we have been privileged enough to meet a large number of the finalists of the EY Entrepreneur of the Year which is the Oscars or All-Stars for entrepreneurs on the island.
There could be nobody who epitomises an entrepreneur better than the overall winner, Brian O’Sullivan, whom we know very well.
He spoke very briefly but the language and passion in the words he spoke gives an insight into the legend that is and what makes an entrepreneur, which has escaped a real definition.
He spoke on the programme about:
“The addiction to the company”
“We are only beginning”
“Tomorrow morning, we will start again – it’s about keep going, keep driving forward”
“Common sense”
“Set the goals”
“I’m very competitive”
“I don’t do corporate well”
“Don’t be defined from the background you come from”
“Keep going, keep trying”
“Work hard”
“Resilience”
Congrats to Brian, his colleagues and family, EY, Enterprise Ireland, Invest NI and Julius Baer for celebrating true leaders of our economy and creators.
@RenatusCapital Tweets
83.1
The KBC Bank Ireland’s consumer sentiment index for November 2021, a decline from October reading of 86.8. @IrishTimes
2.6%
The YoY decrease in the Irish wholesale price index for October 2021. @CSOIreland
9.8%
The increase in the number of people aged 15-89 in employment in Ireland for the first 9 months of 2021 amounting to 2.47 million people employed, according to @CSOIreland @IrishTimesBiz
76%
The number of first-time homebuyers in Ireland over the age of 30. In 2004, 60% of first-time buyers were under 30, according to the report by
@BPFINews @Independent_ie
€841
The typical monthly mortgage repayment for first-time buyers across the State. @BPFINews
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ABOUT RENATUS
Renatus was established in 2014 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 typically in the range of €5m – €20m. Our typical solutions include:
- Succession planning
- Management buyouts
- Management buy-ins
- Growth financing – both organic and acquisition growth financing
- Full and partial share sale.
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