Dublin-based private-equity firm Erisbeg, cofounded by a former Blackstone executive Alan Kerr, is advancing plans to set up a second fund after its first portfolio sold one of its initial investments, according to sources.
Erisbeg has sold healthcare equipment and services provider Medray Group, in which it owned a 98 per cent stake, to LDC, a private equity investor that is part of the Lloyds Banking Group, for close to €60 million.
Erisbeg initially invested in Medray in 2019 and rolled the company in as a seed asset into its first fund, which reached final close in 2022 with €110 million of investments. The fund is mainly backed by European institutional investors, with €10 million committed by AIB.
Medray acquired five businesses while under Erisbeg and is now a leading provider of X-ray and computed tomography (CT) scanning equipment across the healthcare, veterinary and dental markets in Britain and Ireland. It supplies, installs and services equipment for about 2,700 customers and employs 120 people, split between Dublin and a distribution centre in Hemel Hampstead, 40km northwest of London.
Medray, led by chief executive Siobhán Crowley, is one of five platforms that Erisbeg built up in its initial fund. That fund is about 75 per cent invested. Medray’s sale marks its first investment exit.
Erisbeg partner Robert Burns was a director in the company. Investors in the fund are set to share a net figure of close to €40 million from the sale, after company debt and fees are excluded. This would represent a return of 3.5 times on what was initially invested.
“Demand is growing for imaging devices, driven by increasingly stringent regulation and as healthcare providers work to screen for chronic illnesses and care for an increasingly ageing population,” Ms Crowley said in a statement on Monday.
It is expected that some other key investments, including logistics company Dixon International Transport, which went on to buy Carna Transport under Erisbeg, and commercial property design group ORS could be sold on in the coming years.
Sources said that Erisbeg is currently planning a second fund, which is expected to be larger than the initial portfolio and may reach a first close early next year.
