Cork's Punch family has sold the shoe polish and cleaning products company founded 155 years ago by Abigail Punch, great-great-grandmother and great-great-grand aunt respectively of the two outgoing shareholder directors.
Sold for an undisclosed price, Punch Industries will now be part of a pan-European cleaning products company called the Spotless Group, majority-owned by Axa Private Equity. The Spotless Group also includes the French Eau Ecarlate group and Italian Guaber Household, with which Punch had existing distribution agreements.
Publicity-shy Punch Holdings applied last year to be re-registered as an unlimited company. The announcement of the deal indicates Punch Industries turns over in the region of €30 million.
In September, Axa Private Equity, owner of Eau Ecarlate, and Italy's Gualandi family, owner of Guaber Household, merged the two companies into Axa Private Equity's Spotless Group to create a stable of brands, including well-known cleaning products Vim and Vigor.
That deal created a group with an annual revenue of over €220 million. The announcement of the Punch transaction states that the enlarged Spotless Group, including Punch Industries, will have combined sales of over €250 million. It will employ about 350 people, 100 of them in Ireland.
After the September merger, Spotless was owned 53 per cent by Axa Private Equity and 27 per cent by the Gualandi family, with management owning another 13 per cent.
First cousins John Raphael and Martin Punch, who were the Punch family's representatives on the Punch Industries board, are described in the announcement of the deal as "investors" in the new company rather than shareholders. Both cousins are listed in the Companies Offices as shareholders in family holding company Punch Holdings, with Martin Punch owning the largest stake.
It is understood the Spotless deal was planned for some time under the leadership of Punch Industries chief executive Gerry Lawlor, who will remain as chief executive. John and Martin Punch will cease to have any involvement in the company.
The Punch family will continue to own Punch Industries' sites in Little Island in Cork and in Kinsale as well as sites in Northampton, Scotland and Scandinavia.
