IRELAND
Celtic Linen, one of the leading linen rental service providers in Ireland, has announced the acquisition of Millbrook Linen, located in Naas, Co. Kildare. The acquisition was completed on 5 February 2018. Celtic Linen has also appointed Tom Joyce as chairman and a non-executive director of the group.
Celtic is now valued at €20 million after the acquisition of Millbrook Linen. In a statement, the company said that the transaction would enhance Celtic’s capacity and improve its services to hospitals, care homes, hotels, hostels and restaurant customers in the Dublin area and across the rest of the country. It continued: “We decided to seek to grow our laundry services through the acquisition because we believe that as a combined larger organisation it allows us to provide a wider range and depth of services. It provides Celtic with a second laundry facility located in Naas, Co. Kildare. This will operate alongside Celtic’s existing facility in Wexford and increase Celtic’s headcount for the combined group to over 300 employees.”
Celtic Linen has appointed Tom Joyce as Chairman and a non-executive director of the Group. Tom is a textile industry veteran having been managing director of Connacht Court Group until 2003.
Millbrook Linen’s, Karen and Keith Sheridan, will join the management team of the enlarged group and become shareholders in the enlarged Celtic Linen group.
Dublin-based SME private equity investor, Causeway Capital, provided funding for the acquisition with debt financing provided by Ulster Bank. Causeway Capital initially invested in Celtic Linen in December 2016, backing the management team led by CEO Donald Campbell and CFO Joanne Somers.
The team has since completed a multi-million euro investment programme at Celtic Linen’s facility in Wexford to improve the quality of linen and the efficiency of the equipment resulting in improved service delivery for customers.
Donald Campbell CEO of Celtic Linen said: “The laundry and linen business demands determination and significant investment in state-of-the-art facilities to meet customer requirements in our core sectors. This transaction caps a period of significant investment for Celtic Linen during 2017. We have now completed a major upgrade to our Wexford facility investing in new, high quality textiles to improve the efficiency of our business and the quality of service for our customers. I want to take this opportunity to thank all of Celtic’s and Millbrook’s customers, employees and suppliers for their continued support.”
He added: “We are really pleased that Keith Sheridan, Karen Sheridan, Rhona Sheridan and the rest of the Millbrook team will be joining Celtic Linen. Millbrook has an excellent reputation with its customers and the combined business will be much better placed to provide an excellent service to hospitality and healthcare customers throughout Ireland.”
Keith Sheridan of Millbrook Linen said: “We are delighted to be joining forces with Celtic Linen. This transaction enables Millbrook to offer a better service to existing customers and also provides nationwide coverage. Karen and I are delighted to be joining the Celtic team and helping the business to grow.”
