Chemical Solutions Group (CSG) has agreed a deal to acquire Cork-based Celtic Water Care Solutions for an undisclosed sum in a bid to reach €150 million in revenue by 2030.
Industrial wastewater firm Celtic Water Care Solutions will become a wholly owned subsidiary and it is hoped it will support CSG strategy to grow the business from annual revenue of €65 million to €150 million by 2030.
The company said the acquisition was for a “significant amount”, but would not disclose a specific figure as it seeks to break into new markets.
The group, which is headquartered in Shannon, also has sites at Foynes, Limerick, and at Immingham in England. The combined CSG will have a headcount of more than 114 people.
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Kevin Quinn, chief executive of CSG, said the group “has been evolving from a single-brand chemical supplier into a broader family of specialist solution providers for water-intensive industries”.
He said the acquisition formed part of this strategy, “adding further regional depth and service capability and extending CSG’s reach in industrial wastewater”.
Mr Quinn said the existing ownership team, led by founder John O’Connor, had developed for the company “a reputation for being dependable, practical partners to their customers”.
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Mr O’Connor described the move as a “very positive step” for the business and noted: “Being part of a larger specialist group gives us the platform to keep investing, and to make sure the business is in safe hands for the long term.”
CSG, which owns Chemifloc, GI Chemicals Ireland, GI Chemical Solutions UK and Chemilab, currently employs 100 people.
Chemical engineers Hilary Lawless and Ed Story founded Chemifloc in 1982, with the company listing their family members as the owners in their most recent filings to the Companies Registration Office (CRO).
In 2024, Chemifloc Ltd and its subsidiaries, Chemilab and GI Chemicals, traded “satisfactorily” with turnover of €58.2 million, a slight decrease on €61.8 million in 2023. The company made a pretax profit of €12.3 million, but noted it was“facing the effects of escalating fuel and energy costs”. The previous year, pretax profits stood at €13 million.
Nearly all of the company’s turnover was generated from the sale of water-treatment chemicals, but the company saw its water-testing service income double year-on-year to nearly €900,000.
More than 90 per cent of the company’s turnover was generated in Ireland, with the remainder being based in the UK and Europe.
Celtic Water Care Solutions saw revenue grow 10 per cent in 2024, rising from €17.2 million to nearly €19 million. The company saw profits more than double from €890,000 to €2.08 million, bringing its retained profits to €16.9 million since it was founded in 2000.
The company listed 13 employees in the period, and staff costs – a combination of pay, social security and pension costs – of €826,560, a marginal increase on the previous year.
Directors’ remuneration slipped marginally from €234,000 to €216,000, with the bulk (72 per cent) being comprised of pension contributions.
