US investor makes move for second Irish telecom firm

David McCourt, the US investor who led a buyout of wholesale telecom company Enet last year, has moved to acquire Airspeed Telecom, which provides telecom services to Irish companies.

McCourt is leading a group of investors to take a majority stake in the company which owns the largest licensed wireless network outside the mobile operators.

Granahan McCourt Capital, McCourt’s investment firm, will hold the stake on behalf of investors, which include his long-time partner Walter Scott and US investment firm Oak Hill Advisors.

Airspeed’s senior management team, which is led by Liam O’Kelly, who will remain as chief executive, will retain a minority stake.

Extensive reach

Airspeed, which was founded in 2003 by O’Kelly, has built a wireless and fibre network with extensive reach across Ireland and has a private and public sector client base.

Along with O’Kelly, the other main shareholder is chairman Gerry Giblin. It employs 50 people in offices in Citywest in Dublin and Cork. Airspeed’s last reported results show turnover of €10 million and profits of €1.6 million in 2012. The cost of the acquisition is not being disclosed.

Last September Granahan McCourt led a group of investors who bought Enet, the company responsible for operating the State-owned metropolitan area network fibre-optic infrastructure.

“Airspeed is a different, if complementary business to Enet,” McCourt said. The latest deal broadened Granahan McCourt’s footprint in Ireland, he said, with more developments planned next year.

O’Kelly said that the investment would allow the company to strengthen its position in the Irish market and expand internationally.

McCourt and Scott have partnered in transactions since the 1980s, mainly focusing on the telecoms sector in the US and Europe. Scott is a board member of Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett’s investment firm.