Waterland Private Equity recently invested in Mullingar family firm Writech Group, and is in the market for similar deals, writes John Kinsella 

To borrow a celebrated quote from former US president Franklin Roosevelt, 16 March 2020 is “a date which will live in infamy” for Ireland. The date marks when the country went into its first full lockdown, providing an early indication of the healthcare tsunami that was about to hit in the form of the Covid-19 pandemic crisis.

For Laura Dillon, who heads the Dublin office of Waterland Private Equity, it was also her first day on the job.

“I had just moved back to Ireland the week before, from living in London,” Dillon recalls. “Starting work in Dublin on March 16, when the lockdown begun, was a challenge, to say the least. I was brought in to build up our presence in the Irish market. We were coming from a place where nobody had really heard of us, so it was, and still is, about trying to convince people that we will make a good shareholder partner.”

Waterland is an independent private equity player that was established 21 years ago in the Netherlands. The company acts as an active shareholder in its portfolio companies, and targets partner companies with Ebitda of €2.5m to €50m.

Waterland, which has invested in more than 750 companies since inception, has been active in Ireland for five years, providing finance for nursing home operator Silver Stream, digital agency Webfactory and Thermal Insulation Distributors. The company recently effected its sixth investment in Ireland, Writech Group in Mullingar.

In Association with

This midlands family firm has a very successful focus on designing, manufacturing and installing fire protection systems for commercial and industrial customers.

Tom Wright and his wife Mary established the business as General Fire Sprinkler Pump Service & Maintenance in 1981, and sons Alan Wright (47) and Ted Wright (44) were appointed directors in 2006. Besides the Mullingar base, Writech has operations in Manchester and the United Arab Emirates.

Operating company Teal Wright Holdings Ltd, the parent company for Writech Manufacturing Ltd and Writech Industrial Services Ltd, had turnover of €15m in the year to June 2020 and booked an operating profit of €3.3m. Ebitda in the 2019/20 financial year was c.€5m, and the Wright brothers, sole shareholders in the venture, were rewarded with dividends of €4m.

Details of Waterland’s investment in Wright Group were not disclosed. Alan Wright resigned as a director of the operating companies and holding company when the Waterland investment was finalised.

Dillon and Donal Mac Nioclais, the former CRH executive who was appointed Waterland investment director last December, have joined Ted Wright on the company boards.

“Wright Group is a very strong business that wants to continue to grow, not only in Ireland but internationally,” says Dillon. “In order to do that, they require additional resources to scale. It became clear to everybody that it would make a good partnership.”

Dillon (pictured above) adds that Waterland is actively seeking out  businesses in sectors that are fragmented and where consolidation is needed. “In saying that, we may not be the right partner for everybody. The way we think about it is that if we can accelerate the growth of a company faster than they can using their own internal resources, they may be the right fit.

“However, many companies do not want to take in external shareholders. It is about us trying to prove to them how we can actually help them to grow their business faster, largely through M&A and international expansion,” says Dillon.

Dillon believes there’s a lot of potential for private equity investment, particularly in the IT, pharma, healthcare, engineering and manufacturing sectors. “We will be looking to talk to businesses we think are interesting, particularly those that are in the supply chain and supply services to multinationals.”

Photo: Writech Group shareholders Alan Wright (left) and Ted Wright with Donal Mac Nioclais (centre) of Waterland