UK investor puts €17m into PAYE expert BrightPay

ACCOUNTANCY software firm BrightPay has received a £15.4m (€17.2m) investment from a fund managed by UK private equity group Hg.

The investment comes as changes to Ireland’s PAYE reporting system comes on stream.

Employers will be required from next January to report PAYE in real time to the Revenue Commissioners, with BrightPay having invested significantly in its product to enable SMEs to meet the new requirements.

Based in Co Meath and founded by Paul Byrne, BrightPay’s software is used by more than 120,000 employers across Ireland and the UK under its BrightPay and Thesaurus Software brands.

The investment in BrightPay is being made via HgCapital Trust’s Transition Capital unit, and represents that fund’s first investment to date. Precise terms of the investment in BrightPay weren’t disclosed. Hg Capital Trust is listed on the stock market.

Transition Capital offers privately-owned businesses an alternative to a minority equity sale, through structured equity, which gives business owners access to support from Hg, but they retain control of their business.

Peter Miholich, a director at Hg, said that the company is looking forward to helping BrightPay take the business to the “next stage of its development”.

Mr Byrne described Hg as a “hugely credible investor in this sector”.

BrightPay was founded in 1991. Mr Byrne, an accountant by profession, had a long interest in computer coding, and launched Thesaurus Software that year.

He remains the majority shareholder in the business.