Devenish appoints Goodbody as it looks to raise further funds

Company has grown revenues from just €5m in 1997 to projected €240m last year

Irish agtech company Devenish is seeking to raise further capital as it continues to expand internationally.

Headquartered in Belfast and with sites across Britain, the US, Turkey and Uganda, the animal nutrition company employs 750 people globally and trades in over 40 countries.

Devenish, which received €118 million in funding from the European Investment Bank in 2019, projected revenues of €240 million in 2020, up from just €5 million in 1997.

Chief executive Richard Kennedy, who was named EY Entrepreneur of the Year in 2019, did not put a figure on how much the company is seeking to raise in investment this time round.

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“We have ambitious plans to further build on our global footprint, and we intend to secure further investment as part of that strategy. We have appointed Goodbody as our financial advisers to explore a number of options with potential financial investors and industry partners,” he said.

Shift

Mr Kennedy added that Covid-19 has brought a paradigm shift for policymakers regarding the importance of health and nutrition, including having a better understanding of where our food comes from.

“Our solutions allow our customers, and the feed and food industry as a whole, to become more sustainable,” he said.

Mr Kennedy said the Americas were a key area of growth from the group.

"In the US, we will have grown from two manufacturing sites when we first started there, to six, by the end of this year. We are also growing in emerging markets, expanding our operations in Mexico and setting up new business in the Latin American region and elsewhere," he said.

Charlie Taylor

Charlie Taylor

Charlie Taylor is a former Irish Times business journalist