Bellingham Capital (BellCap) has acquired National Organics in Bray, owner of the Bunalun food brand.

Bunalun is Ireland’s largest and best-known organic food brand. Kieran Dunne, the company’s co-founder, will continue in his role as managing director. The amount of the transaction was not disclosed.

Trading company National Organic 160 Products Ltd had turnover of €21.6m in 2020 and booked a pre-tax profit of €1.8m. Net worth at period end was €9.5m. The company shareholders are Jacqueline Daly (45%), Isolde Daly (25%), William Daly (20%) and Kieran Dunne (10%).

In March 2021, the company made a loan of €2m to Killarney Autos Ltd, a company connected with shareholder William Daly.

BellCap is an investment fund founded by Mark Goodman in 2021. Its focus is to invest in the areas of agri-business, food industry and renewable projects across Ireland and the UK.

In Association with

Established in 1999, National Organics employs 43 people and delivers a broad selection of organic food products across a range of product categories at affordable price points.

Mark Goodman commented: “We are very proud that our first investment is to acquire one of Ireland’s leading retail food brands. Our objective now is to work with the excellent team at National Organics to take the company on a journey of geographical expansion in 2022 and beyond.”

Kieran Dunne stated: “Having built a strong business in Ireland, we are now looking forward to the further development of the Bunalun customer base in international markets.”

Besides Goodman, the BellCap executive team includes CFO Shane McMahon and chairman Brian O’Kelly, previously Co-Head of Investment Banking at Goodbody Stockbrokers.

The Bellingham Group consists of Bellingham Farms, Ireland’s largest integrated arable and livestock facility; Bellingham Hospitality, one of the North East’s leading hospitality businesses; and Bellingham Capital, the private equity arm of the group.