Irish private equity firm Erisbeg has acquired a majority stake in UK-based IT services firm Fruition, in a deal worth more than €15 million.
Fruition operates two businesses: a specialist IT recruitment firm (Fruition IT) and an IT development firm (Fruition Consulting), both headquartered in Leeds. Its clients include Asda, Flutter Entertainment plc and TransUnion.
Founded by current chief executive Sarah Pawson in 2008, Fruition’s two businesses had a combined turnover of more than £50 million (€57.39 million) in 2022.
The deal is one of the largest investments ever made by Erisbeg since it was established in 2017 by former DCC executive Thomas Davy and Blackstone alumnus Alan Kerr.
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Erisbeg has agreed more than 20 “significant deals” since inception, and focuses on scaling Irish SMEs with its “buy and build” strategy. The firm is deploying a fund of €110 million, backed by Irish and European institutional investors including AIB.
In November last year, Erisbeg acquired a majority position in Irish-based IT recruitment company Eolas Recruitment.
Erisbeg said that it will now operate Eolas Recruitment and the newly acquired Fruition IT and Fruition Consulting under a single holding company, to facilitate sharing of resources and expertise between the businesses.
Fruition chief executive Sarah Pawson will take a significant minority stake in the new holding company.
“The injection of capital will accelerate our growth and enable the Fruition brands to reach their full potential at a new pace, whilst creating opportunities not just for management, but for all the team here at Fruition as well as future hires,” said Ms Pawson.
Mr Davy, co-founding partner at Erisbeg, said that what Ms Pawson and the Fruition team have built and the growth they have enjoyed is “truly impressive”.
“Fruition will be a great addition to Erisbeg’s portfolio and a real asset to our IT recruitment brand, Eolas,” he said.
Advisers on the transaction included Clearwater, Deloitte Ireland, EY Ireland, Gordons LLP, Pinsent Masons, RSM and BHP.
