A Finnish company which hopes to set up acquisition and merger deals for Irish companies in Scandinavia and the Baltic States has established an operation in Limerick.
The company, Oy Lochlann Suomi, has located its European R&D headquarters in the National Technological Park in Limerick and plans to employ 25 people as part of a five-year plan.
While the Limerick facility will concentrate initially on R&D, the company will use this information to target Irish firms which it claims are operating in too narrow a geographical area.
"Most Irish firms do their acquisitions either in Britain or the United States, but we are hoping to show them the opportunities available in Scandinavia and the Baltics," said a company spokesman. Setting up a second office in Dublin is also being considered.
The company's operation in Limerick will concentrate for the first year on research on the top 100 Irish companies, identifying opportunities which might be available for them in Scandinavia, the Baltics and Russia.
The director of the company's Europe and central European operations is Irishman, Mr Gerard O'Dwyer, who previously worked with Standard & Poor, the New York equity research company.
