Salmon Software, the Dublin-based treasury management software company that counts Ryanair and CRH among its blue-chip clients, paid out €2.65 million in dividends prior to its owner John Byrne selling a majority stake in the business early last year to private equity firm Melior.
A spokeswoman for Melior confirmed that payment, recorded in a newly filed abridged financial statement for the Salmon Software for 12 months to the end of last March, was made before the deal went through that month.
The Irish Times reported last year that Melior, an investment firm founded in 2019 by former Irish managers with US investment giant Carlyle Group, Jonathan Cosgrave and Peter Garvey, paid as much as €15 million to buy about 70 per cent of Salmon Software. The deal saw Mr Byrne sell some of his shares in the fintech, but most of the investment was by way of the acquisition of new stock to grow the business further.
The financial statement, filed with the Companies Registration Office this week, did not disclose the company’s turnover for the financial year, but showed that its profits came to almost €952,000. Mr Byrne told the Business Post last June that he aimed to double the company’s turnover within two years of the fresh investment.
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Salmon Software, which also counts European aircraft manufacturer Airbus and Dubai-based logistics group DP World among its clients, had €4.29 million of cash on its balance sheet at the end of the reporting period. Salmon Software was founded by Mr Byrne in 1985.
