JOHN CONROY has stepped down as chief executive of Merrion Capital Group to take charge of its corporate finance arm.
Michael Hodson, Merrion’s head of finance since 2000, has been appointed as the Ballsbridge-based group’s interim chief executive.
It is understood that Mr Conroy, who has run Merrion since it was founded in 1999, plans to acquire a 50 per cent stake in the stockbroker’s corporate finance arm along with other members of that unit’s team.
This transaction is subject to the approval of the Financial Regulator. The other 50 per cent will continue to be held by Merrion.
Rose McHugh, the Cork-based head of Merrion Corporate Finance up to this point, is believed to be participating in the deal.
Mr Conroy is an experienced dealmaker and helped Merrion to secure lucrative advisory work on the IPOs of Aer Lingus and Eircom. Most recently, it was involved in the STT/Esot buy-in to Eircom.
It is believed that Mr Conroy plans to ramp up Merrion’s corporate finance activities in the context of an likely increase in deals in Ireland in the coming years.
Staff were informed of the changes on Wednesday evening.
When contacted, Mr Hodson said it was “business as usual” for Merrion. “We look forward to continuing to trade profitably into the future,” he added.
Merrion made a pre-tax profit of €8 million in 2008, according to company filings.
This is believed to have declined to about €6 million last year, which would be considered a strong result in what is expected to be an increasingly busy Irish corporate market.
Mr Conroy was a founder of Merrion along with a number of other former NCB executives.
He will remain as one of the largest individual shareholders in Merrion Capital Group, with a holding similar to that of New York-based Allen Co.