Gael Form secures €4m equity raise via EIIS
CONSTRUCTION materials supplier Gael Form has raised €4m in equity via the Employment and Investment Incentive Scheme (EIIS).
The funds will be used to increase the company’s inventory as it seeks to cater for an expanding customer base.
The deal was brokered by Duff & Phelps Ireland and the funding comes from the Goodbody EIIS funds — a joint venture between Goodbody Stockbrokers and accountancy firm Baker Tilly Hughes Blake.
Trim-based Gael Form specialises in formwork — structures into which fresh concrete is poured before it hardens, taking the shape of the formwork structure.
Chief executive Colm Griffin said the deal “marks a milestone for our company as we begin to execute our growth strategy”.
“This initial investment will allow us to add significant capacity and build out our existing customer network,” he added. It also provides scaffolding services and a design engineering service.
The company, established in 2011, is looking to build on its existing presence in the UK, Europe and Ireland.
Aidan Flynn, director at Duff & Phelps mergers and acquisitions practice, said raising capital for relatively new businesses “is always a struggle”.
“It can be difficult to attract funding from the right investors. Gael Form has proven its strength in the market and its trajectory for growth was a key selling point for investors,” he added.
The scheme gives tax reliefs to people who invest in companies. It has been beset by delays this year, due to a slowdown in processing by Revenue and changes prompted by European Union state aid rules.
“Due to increases in both the volume of correspondence received and the complexity of the issues involved in relation to applications for relief under EII, there has been an unavoidable increase in the time taken to respond to that correspondence and to issue EII certificates,” a Revenue spokeswoman told the Sunday Independent last month.
It is understood the delays have meant the appetite for the scheme amongst investors and investee companies has waned.
In recent months, Davy wrote to clients to say it would return money to investors if tax relief certs were not made available by Revenue by the year end.