Wheels Of Fortune For Luceys
Substantial wealth was created in Millstreet, Co. Cork, at the end of September 2022 when the takeover of Lucey Transport Logistics (LTL) by Danish peer DFDS was finalised after a thumbs-up from the CCPC. The deal consideration was not disclosed but a few years earlier Lucey Transport Logistics was formed through the bundling together of various group companies.
The goodwill arising was €24m, and in September 2021 LTL had other balance sheet assets of €11m. Turnover in FY21 was €32m and operating profit as €3.9m, so a substantial enterprise was passing out of family ownership 90 years after it was established.
On the Lucey Transport website, Kevin Lucey (71) relates the business origins. As general merchants, his father collected butter, bacon and poultry from the surrounding farms for export to London and returning with tea, sugar, and flour. “The importance of the return load value then still resonates strongly for us today,” says Lucey.
In the 1940s Lucey’s supplied road materials to councils. The state had a monopoly on road freight and each truck had to carry a licence which was tightly controlled and expensive. “Our big break came in 1949 when Cadbury opened a chocolate manufacturing factory in our locality. As a result, Lucey’s secured a contract to deliver chocolate crumb to the port for export and to the Cadbury plant in Dublin.”
The logistics concern purchased by the Danes has 70 trucks and 400 trailers, a distribution centre in Dublin and regional depots, primarily serving customers in the consumer goods sector. Its logistics solutions include warehousing, inventory management, bonded storage, and product rework and labelling.
DFDS, with annual turnover of €2.4bn, operates ferry and logistics divisions, and launched a freight ferry route between Rosslare and Dunkirk in 2021. LTL was owned by Ronan Lucey (36.9%), Bryan Lucey (29.7%), chief
executive Kevin Lucey (18.7%) and Juan Lucey (14.7%). After the deal closed, Kevin Lucey commented: “The Lucey family will continue to manage and expand their commercial property portfolio.”
Another trucker who cashed out in the second half of 2022 was Paul Tuohy (60), who established Alltrans in 1993. With operations located in Dublin and Cork, Alltrans employs c.120 people and has a focus on wholesale distribution services, especially for the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors.
DPF Consultants Ltd, the Alltrans operating company, booked a net profit of €720,000 in the year to August 2021, following a €520,000 surplus the year before. Trade debtors at period end amounted to €1.8m, up from €1.4m a year earlier, and company net worth was €2.3m. Non-cash financial assets in August 2021 were €1m. The company was owned 50/50 by Paul Tuohy and Karena Maguire.
The Alltrans buyer was Danx Carousel, backed by Danish private equity investor Axcel. When the deal concluded, Paul Tuohy commented: “Our many years of success have always been due to the commitment shown by our excellent team, so I’m happy they will also benefit from the training and development opportunities that will come from being part of a larger company.”
Barry Hughes (72) and his daughter Bronagh stepped away from Carna Transport in Castleblayney after the firm was acquired in August 2022 by Dixon International Logistics. The purchase was Dixon’s first deal since private equity company Erisbeg invested last year.
Carna operates from Armagh and Monaghan and was established in 1973. “We’re incredibly proud of the business that we have created over the past 50 years as a solely owned Irish run operation,” said Hughes, who owned the business. Carna Transport accounts to August 2021 disclose €13m investment in leased lorries over the years, and 100 drivers on the payroll. In FY21, Carna booked a pre-depreciation profit of €2.9m, and net worth at period-end was €10.7m, including €3.5m cash.
Dixon, established by Michael Dixon in 1998, is based on St Margaret’s Road beside Dublin Airport and had turnover of €36m in 2021.