Nostra hunts for deals after €3m fundraising
IT business Nostra is close to raising €3m to fund an acquisition drive.
Nostra chief executive Kevin O’Loughlin told the Sunday Independent that the company has received term sheets from a number of potential investors and is in due diligence with others.
“We’ll make a decision towards the end of the year. We’re looking to have funds in the first quarter of next year to complete the first acquisition,” O’Loughlin said. “We’re currently talking to four businesses that we’d like to acquire,” he added.
O’Loughlin is one of the finalists in the ‘International’ category of this year’s EY Entrepreneur of the Year competition.
The business turned over €7m last year and is expecting to reach €10m this year. It provides managed outsourced IT services to clients including Dawn Farm Foods and Oasis Document Storage. It is also looking at plans to expand to the United States and is currently on a recruitment drive.
“My dad had a phrase that you can teach a nice guy to be a bartender but you can’t teach a bartender to be a nice guy. We very much focus on very nice and personable people, and we then train them in whatever skills they need to be top IT engineers.
“Obviously you have to be interested in technology to be in that space. We want, ultimately, our customers to have a positive experience at every engineering interaction,” O’Loughlin said.