A New York-based activist investor called Irenic Capital Management has doubled its stake in FD Technologies, the Newry-based tech firm that is undergoing major restructuring.
Stock exchange filings show Irenic has doubled its stake to more than 10 per cent of the shares, valued at €41.1 million at FD Technologies’ current price.
Irenic first took a stake in FD in January, buying up 5.8 per cent of the company’s shares, having previously held no notifiable position. That stake would have been worth about €23 million at the company’s then share price.
Irenic is an activist hedge fund run by Adam Katz and Andy Dodge, which in its own words “invests in public companies and works collaboratively with firm leadership” to “produce improvements in operating and financial performance that create long-term value for the company and its owners”.
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In recent years Irenic has been involved at various times in high-level board discussions with the management of Capricorn Energy Plc, a London-listed natural gas producer, as well as the restaurant chain Wagamama. In 2022 the fund publicly opposed Rupert Murdoch’s plans to merge Fox and NewsCorp.
In March of this year, after what it described as “extensive consultation with shareholders and input from advisers”, FD announced it was splitting itself into three businesses.
The split will be based roughly around its three distinct business units. Its marketing technology division, MRP, is set to merge with a US firm called CONTENTgine, in which FD Technologies will hold a 49 per cent stake.
It will also sell off its technology and consulting arm, KX, though it noted in stock exchange filings in March that it would “take a measured approach to the separation of KX and First Derivative, particularly with respect to the timing of any transaction, having regard to market conditions to ensure that a divestment of First Derivative reflects its value”.
The value of shares in FD Technologies has fallen substantially in the last few years. In June last year the shares were trading at more than €21, but have since fallen to a recent low of less than €12.
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