A fund run by London private equity company Elysian Capital has taken a majority stake in Irish logistics company Fastway Couriers, alongside its management team.
Elysian has acquired the stakes in Fastway's owner, Parcel Connect, that were held by Woodberry Capital and MML Growth Capital Partners, which is exiting five years after investing in the business for an estimated €30 million. Woodberry later invested in Fastway by acquiring the stake held by Bobby O'Keeffe, its former chief executive who left in 2019.
The company, which was founded 20 years ago, is now majority controlled by the London firm's £325 million (€386 million) fund Elysian Capital III. Fastway's chief executive, Danny Hughes, and five other members of its management team will hold a minority stake in the courier company. Fastway's managers, who already held stakes as part of an incentive programme, are understood to have taken some cash off the table but will continue to hold shares.
Exiting shareholders
Fastway's co-founders, Andy Hennessy and Gerry Riordan, who also held small stakes, are also exiting as shareholders as part of the Elysian deal. The company's non-executive chairman, Ian Duffy, who also held a small stake, is also selling his shares as part of the transaction.
The value of the transaction was not disclosed, but industry sources suggested the deal was completed at a company valuation well above the 2017 deal when MML first invested.
Fastway’s most recent publicly available accounts, for the 15 months immediately prior to the pandemic to mid-March 2020, showed sales of almost €54 million. It reported an operating loss of almost €900,000 for the 15 months. Since then, most courier companies have seen a significant increase in business due to a spike in online retail sales during the pandemic lockdowns.
Elysian has backed several management buyouts in the Irish market in recent years, including a deal last summer for Dublin refrigeration company Cross Rental Services, and one in 2019 for Westmeath plastics company Mergon Group. Elysian's Irish office is run by former Deloitte corporate finance executive Laura McCoy.
