Causeway pumps €4m into Turmec MBO deal
PRIVATE equity firm Causeway Capital, which is backed by the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF), has invested €4m in a Co Meath-based engineering firm to back a management buyout (MBO) of the business.
The recycling engineering firm, Turmec, designs, manufactures and installs recycling plants and equipment in Ireland and the UK, as well as other markets.
Its client base includes firms such as Biffa, Thorntons, Bord na Mona, Suez, AES and Powerday.
Turmec generated revenue of €16.7m in the 12 months to the end of June last year, and a profit after tax of just over €1m.
That compared to revenue of €19.1m in the previous financial year, when it made a €702,000 profit.
The accounts also show that Turmec had shareholder funds of €5.8m at the end of June last year.
Founded in 1972, the company was wholly owned by Joe Coffey, who will remain involved in the business.
The management buyout team is led by managing director Brian Thornton. He said the firm is looking forward to embarking on its next phase of expansion. Niall Fay, the general manager and director at Offaly-based Grant Engineering, will join the Turmec board as non-executive chairman.
Causeway Capital’s Pierce Casey and Connor Reid will also join the Turmec board.
Among Turmec’s previous projects are a £10m (€11m) materials recovery facility that was designed and installed for Powerday in 2016.
The facility can process up to 330,000 tonnes of construction and commercial waste from the London area every year.
In turn, it produces recycled materials and renewable fuel.
Causeway Capital targets investments in SMEs of between €5m and €10m. It’s also backed by AIB, pension funds and private individuals.
In 2016, it raised €50m in its first funding. More than half the capital raised has now been deployed.
The investment in Turmec is Causeway’s fifth backing of an SME. It recently made its first investment in a UK firm, backing online fashion business InTheStyle.com.
It also backed the bolt-on acquisitions of Millbrook Linen by Celtic Linen, and of Love Coffee by Bakers + Baristas.