Loane to receive €10m in Adare buyout

Businessman Nelson Loane is set to receive €10 million from the sale of Adare Printing in a deal valuing the group at €170 million.

Mr Loane and his colleague, finance director Cormac O'Tighearnaigh, have agreed to sell the company in a secondary management buyout.

Under the terms of a deal done at the weekend and finalised yesterday, the remaining management, under the leadership of business development manager Robert Whiteside, will take over Adare.

Backed by Bank of Scotland corporate banking, Mr Whiteside and his team have taken over the company in a deal worth £117 million (€170 million). UK-based Mr Whiteside will be the new chief executive.

The sale will net €10 million for Mr Loane. He took an 18 per cent stake in the company for around €1.3 million after leading a buyout in 2000.

Adare has switched its focus over the last six years from printing to print management. It provides its clients with mailing and packaging services.

The group's profits suffered in the late 1990s as competition intensified in the UK market, where it did most of its business. Currently it has a turnover of €150 million per year.

Livingstone Guarantee, a London-based independent corporate finance house, advised Bank of Scotland on the deal.

The transaction has been on the table since last May. The details were worked out late on Friday and finalised yesterday. It is likely that the company will announce details later today.

Mr Loane and his colleagues paid shareholders €161 million for Adare when they bought it out in 2000.

At the time, Irish venture capital house Allen, McGuire and Partners advised on the deal. Bank of Scotland also had an interest in the company that was taken private through a vehicle called Uberior Holdings.

As a result of that deal, Mr Loane made €12.9 million for his shares in Adare plc and a further €1.9 million from his options. Allen McGuire became the biggest shareholder in the group. The vehicle that took over Adare was named NAPG.

The then-finance director, Peter Lynch, made €4 million from the deal. In 2000 he led the original management buyout bid, but resigned after Mr Loane's offer trumped his.

Since 2000, a number of medium-sized companies have followed Adare off the Dublin Stock Exchange and into private ownership.

They include radiator and plastics group Barlo, technology players Alphyra, Riverdeep and another printer-packager, Clondalkin.

Along with those, Eircom and Smurfit (now Smurfit Kappa), also delisted. The former returned to the market two years ago and now looks set to return to private ownership. There is speculation that Smurfit Kappa will list once again.

It was not clear yesterday if Mr Loane intends to cut all links with Adare now that he has agreed to sell his shareholding.