Private equity firm Erisbeg has acquired a majority stake in multi-disciplinary building consultancy ORS. The commercial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The announcement comes a month after Erisbeg similarly acquired a majority stake in IT recruiter Eolas Recruitment in a deal that has now been cleared by the CCPC.
Erisbeg, founded in 2017 by Alan Kerr and Thomas Davy, formerly of Blackstone and DCC respectively, has raised €110m from Irish and international institutional investors, including AIB.
The firm has a focus on acquiring majority positions in high performing services businesses with international growth potential, particularly companies in the critical communications, healthcare, compliance, logistics, recruitment and property consultancy sectors.
In the last five years, Erisbeg has completed 14 private equity transactions in Ireland and UK. Erisbeg portfolio businesses have combined annual sales of €175m, annual profits of €29m, and employ 710 people.
In Association with
Established in 1991 by Paul O'Reilly and Finbarr Stuart and headquartered in Mullingar, ORS is now led by managing director John Brennan and employs over 80 staff, having expanded significantly in recent years.
The company has specialist divisions in civil and structural engineering, project management, fire safety, and health & safety management among others.
Brennan and the board of directors will continue to lead ORS, with Andrew Murphy and Thomas Davy of Erisbeg joining the board with immediate effect.
Murphy, partner in Erisbeg, commented: "Our focus is on investing in successful companies with strong growth potential. From the time we were introduced to ORS, we were struck by the quality of the business.
"The strength of the management team and the depth of engineering and surveying expertise across the business was striking and gives us great confidence in the ability of ORS to deliver strong growth both organically and through acquisition."
Brennan said: "We are really excited about partnering with the Erisbeg team. At ORS, our culture is at the core of everything we do. Finding a partner that valued this approach was very important to us.
"We look forward to working with Andrew and the wider Erisbeg team on the next phase of our expansion.”
Finbarr Stuart, co-founder of ORS, added: "We believe that this transaction will enable us to drive forward in a competitive and dynamic sector. Erisbeg is committed to growth and we believe that we will perform strongly with their support in the years ahead.”
Accounts for O'Reilly Stuart & Associates Ltd (ORS), show the company had net assets of nearly €1.9m after making a profit of €347,000 in 2021.
Photo: (l-r) Andrew Murphy, partner in Erisbeg, and Alan Kerr, managing partner and co-founder of Erisbeg. (Pic: Fennells)
