AN POST’S €9 million injection into the Gift Voucher Shop (GVS) has allowed ACT Venture Capital to exit its investment in the business.

ACT is believed to have invested about €4 million in GVS.

An Post is taking a 53 per cent stake in the company, which was founded by Michael Dawson and has made its name offering the One4All gift vouchers. The deal values GVS at about €17 million.

Dawson and the management team have increased their stake as part of the deal to 47 per cent.

An Post will have the right to buy them out in the coming years.

GVS achieved sales of €52 million in 2008 and Dawson told me yesterday that the company is 12-14 per cent ahead in the current year, helped by a successful launch of One4All into the UK.

It recently signed a strategic alliance with the British Post Office, that secured it five years’ exclusive access to 12,000 post offices and 8,000 pay station outlets.

“We have a couple of other projects in the UK in mind,” Dawson added.

But plans to expand into Spain are on hold. “We’ve decided to put that on the back-burner and concentrate on the UK.”

An Post might not have a reputation as a cutting-edge commercial operator but Dawson said they will be a good partner for GVS.

“They have a lot of experience in the pre-paid market . . . this will be a natural fit for us.”