Mincon seeks to raise €50m from stock market flotation

Irish engineering company Mincon plans to raise €50 million from floating on the Dublin and London stock exchanges this month.

The Shannon-based firm, founded by Patrick and Mary Purcell in 1977, manufactures and exports hammers and drill bits used mainly in the multinational mining and resource industries.

The 36-year-old company attracted a share of coverage internationally three years ago when its equipment was used in the dramatic rescue of a group of trapped miners in Chile.

It plans to float on Dublin’s ESM and London’s Alternative Investment Market (AIM) this month, when it intends to raise €50 million that it would use to fund growth through the purchase of a series of rivals over the next 18 months to two years.

In a statement, Mincon said that the acquisitions it intends pursuing will allow it to extend its existing product range, defend its current strong margins and gain entry to new customers and markets. Chief executive Kevin Barry said it has identified a pipeline of acquisition targets and added that preliminary talks have taken place with a number of possible candidates. The businesses involved have an estimated value of between €10 million and €30 million.

The company plans to issue new shares, while existing, significant stakeholders will be locked in for a period of two years. It will pay a €15 million dividend, which has already been declared, ahead of the initial public offering.

This will leave the group with no calls on its cash and in a debt-free position ahead of the flotation. Its figures show that revenues almost doubled to €63 million from €33 million between 2010 and 2012.

Pre-tax profit more than doubled to €13.2 million from €6.2 million over the same time frame. It had almost €14 million in cash at the end of the first half of this year.

It has appointed Peter Lynch, executive chair of Prime Active Capital plc and former Éircom chief financial officer as chairman of its board, and recruited former ESB chief executive Pádraig McManus as senior independent director.

Dublin stockbroking firm Davy is acting as nominated adviser, ESM adviser and broker.