Carlyle Cardinal Ireland to acquire Payzone
Carlyle Cardinal Ireland joins management to support future growth of the business
Print9 March 2015
Carlyle Cardinal Ireland (CCI), the Irish private equity fund founded by The Carlyle Group and Cardinal Capital Group, today (9 March) announced that it has agreed to acquire Payzone Ireland, the largest provider of multi-channel consumer payments across the country, from Duke Street.
The change in ownership will have no impact on the day-to-day business operations of Payzone in Ireland. The senior management team, including Mike Maloney, Jim Deignan and Nigel Bell, will remain in their roles and will roll over substantial equity into the new partnership.
With 11,800 points of sale across 7,000 agents, Payzone Ireland has one of the largest physical retail payments networks in Ireland. It is estimated that 97% of all consumers in Ireland are within a quarter of a mile of a Payzone agent, providing them with a convenient way to pay for a multitude of everyday items from road tolls to energy bills to mobile phone top-ups.
Peter Garvey, director of Carlyle and Jim Deignan, managing director of Payzone Ireland, both emphasised the growth they expect to arise from the partnership.
Charlie Troup, partner at Duke Street, majority shareholder in the Payzone Group, said: “We are proud to have worked with Payzone’s talented management team through the journey of restructuring the group, and growing and selling its Cashzone ATM operations while strengthening the market position of the remaining Payzone businesses and generating excellent returns for Duke Street’s investors. This hard work has delivered an attractive business with significant further growth potential. We see CCI as well qualified to back management for the next phase of growth.”
Equity for the investment will come from CCI, a €292 million Irish private equity fund focused on growth capital and buyout investment opportunities across Ireland whose investors include the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund and Enterprise Ireland. The fund has also made investments in the Kildare-based premium chocolate manufacturer Lily O’Brien’s, and General Secure Logistics Services (GSLS), an Irish cash management solutions provider.
The operations of Payzone UK and Payzone Romania, the two remaining businesses in the original Payzone Group, are unaffected by the deal.
The acquisition of Payzone Ireland by Carlyle Cardinal Ireland is subject to approval from the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission.
Related Articles
Payzone launches digital fundraising platform for retailers →
Fans 0
Followers