A Zurich-listed group is set to buy Cavan-based Kyte Powertech for a figure understood to be around €250 million in a deal that will see the MML Capital Ireland exit its stake in the Irish business after backing a management buyout there in 2020.
R&S Group, a Swiss electrical distribution transformer manufacturer, has agreed to acquire Kyte Powertech, a Cavan-based company that makes electrical pole-mounted and ground-mounted units transformers as well substations and other electrical components.
Financial details have not been disclosed publicly. However, market sources indicate the Swiss Stock Exchange-listed group will pay some €250 million to buy the Irish company from its management team and the Irish arm of London-based private equity firm MML making it one of the larger transactions in the market here this year.
The deal will see MML Capital Ireland exit its roughly 60 per cent stake in Kyte Powertech, acquired in 2020 after backing a management buyout of the company in 2020.
Approximately 40 per cent of the shares are held by the management, led by chief executive Stephanie Leonard, who will remain in situ at the helm of the company after the takeover and will reinvest in the company after the transaction is concluded.
“This acquisition could not have been better timed,” Ms Leonard said in a statement. “It will allow us to build on the momentum we have generated over recent years and enable us to invest in the considerable market opportunities in Europe and beyond.
“Our addressable market is growing significantly thanks to a surge in electricity usage, transport electrification and data consumption.”
Founded in 1977 as Pauwels Trafo before rebranding as Kyte Powertech after the management buyout in 2020, the company said it is poised to generate €165 million in turnover this year and boasts a client base that includes ESB, National Grid Group in the UK and SP (ScottishPower) Energy Networks.
It employed more than 450 in the year to the end of March 2023 and is the market leading manufacturer of electrical distribution transformers in both Ireland and the UK with strong market positions in Belgium and the Netherlands.
“We have a strong reputation in the market, enjoy long standing customer relationships and, importantly, have end-to-end manufacturing and testing facilities in Cavan with capacity to expand,” Ms Leonard said.
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Markus Laesser, chief executive of R & S group, said the deal will give the group exposure to markets it is not currently serving.
Rory Quirke, partner and co-head of investments at MMP Capital Ireland, said the exit – the firm’s 10th in the Republic since its debut here in 2013 – “underscores [the firm’s] commitment to supporting to companies in reaching their full potential.
The firm has been active in the market this year. Last month, MML sold its stake in Eastland Engineering Supplies Dublin-based supply chain management company for an estimated three-fold return on its original investment, understood to be in the region of €30 million.
It also recently backed the acquisition of Kilkenny-based logistics and cold chain specialist Allmed by Virginia Transport, a warehousing and freight transport business MML acquired in 2022.
Cofounded in London in 1988 by Rory Brooks and Jim Read, MML Capital has approximately €2 billion of assets under management.
