The crane and plant hire business, William O'Brien, is for sale, with a price tag that sources suggest should be about €13 million, writes Barry O'Halloran.
The Cork-based company, one of the biggest crane and plant hire operators in the State, announced yesterday that it had appointed Merrion Capital to manage the sale.
The net assets of William O'Brien Plant Hire stand at between €11 million and €12 million.
Industry sources say that it should sell for a premium on those figures. On that basis, they suggest it might fetch somewhere between €13 million and €13.5 million.
The company has grown rapidly over the past decade. Turnover increased from €1 million in 1996 to the current figure of €10 million.
Accounts lodged with the Companies Registration Office show that it is profitable. In 2005, the last year for which figures are available, its operating surplus was €781,436, while pretax earnings came in at €557,500.
Merrion Capital's Cork office is handling the sale. It has set a target date of February 22nd for interested parties to submit indicative offers. This will be followed by due diligence before unconditional offers are made by March 28th.
William O'Brien snr founded the company in Cork in the mid-1960s. Its headquarters are in Bishopstown, on the south side of the city. William O'Brien jnr now runs the business. Both men are shareholders along with other members of their family.
The company has operations in Cork, Limerick and Waterford and employs 80 staff.
Yesterday, the firm said it was the biggest crane hire business in the State and the second-biggest for concrete pumping. It attributed part of the last decade's growth to its expansion into the latter activity, which is used frequently in major building projects.
William O'Brien provided the cranes used to install floodlighting in Croke Park, which required the use of the largest tower crane in Europe.
Andrew Mannion Structural Engineering actually installed the lights, which were used for the first time to illuminate last weekend's Dublin-Tyrone National Football League clash.
Mr O'Brien jnr is understood to want to sell the business as it is going through a period of expansion and needs further capital injection. He plans to focus on other business interests, including a storage operation.
