Elight to invest €100m in projects after acquiring UK rival

Irish energy-saving lighting specialist Elight has acquired a rival company in the United Kingdom and said the new merged entity will invest €100 million in sustainable projects over the next three years.

The Dublin-based company is also looking to double the number of people it employs to 80 over the next 12 months.

Elight, whose clients include Ires Reit and Dalata, installs and manages energy-efficient LED lighting solutions for the commercial sector. It provides a "light as a service" model in partnership with the likes of Philips and Actavo that sees it paying upfront costs for installing LED lighting.

Founded by Ian McKenna in 2012, Elight saw sales treble to €4 million last year as profits rose to just under €1 million.

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The company said it had acquired London-headquartered Energy Works Limited for an undisclosed sum and was to rebrand it as Elight Works with immediate effect.

Commercial clients

The former Energy Works had revenues of £3.5 million (€3.9 million) in 2017 and completed more than 100 projects for commercial clients in the UK and the Gulf States. Energy Works founder Harvey Sinclair is to stay on to run the UK business.

Mr McKenna, a former EY Entrepreneur of the Year finalist, said the acquisition would make the group the largest light as a service company in Europe with more than 600 projects completed and more than €60 million in energy savings generated for existing clients.

The expanded group, which is actively targeting opportunities in new markets, will have a combined turnover of €12 million.

“We are delighted to conclude this merger, which will open up new opportunities for our business to grow exponentially,” said Mr McKenna.

“This merger will increase our ability to access capital, meaning that we can deliver this service for our growing client base,” he added.