CONSTRUCTION MAY seem like a strange target for a private equity house but Cork-based group Mercier is confident of its prospects – at least in the UK market.
Mercier has snapped up McKenna Plant Hire in Oxford. It proposes to combine this business with civil engineering firm, the McArdle Group, which it acquired back in 2008.
These two UK businesses have more in common than just their owner.
They have similar roots, having both been set up in the mid-sixties by emigrant Irishmen to service the construction sector in the south-east of England.
Mercier, established back in 2002 and headed by Martin Doonan, specialises in maximising potential for family businesses.
For Mr Doonan, who sees the two companies enhance its offering in the recycling sector in England, the focus on construction service is a long way from his business roots.
The former managing director and global head of money markets at Barclays, spent three decades dabbling in capital markets and was at one point country manager for the bank in Singapore.
He is certainly impressed with the performance of his existing UK asset, saying the McArdle group has delivered “terrific performance”, doubling turnover to about £63 million over the past three years.
Presumably Mercier will be hoping to repeat that success with the latest bolt-on acquisition.
