Premier buys British recruiter for €9m
The deal is the second major takeover involving top Irish recruitment firms this week and follows Belfast-headquartered Grafton’s €5 million swoop on Dublin agency Mary B Cremin.
Premier employs 110 people and has offices in Cork, Dublin, Limerick, Waterford and Kilkenny. It focuses on finding staff to fill financial, office, technical and IT jobs and also owns the La Crème, Brunel and Verkom recruitment brands.
Yesterday’s deal will result in a group with combined revenues of €70m and net fee income, which excludes salaries paid to contract staff, of €30m.
Premier founder and managing director Pat Fitzgerald said the takeover was a milestone in Premier’s expansion and would confirm its position as Ireland’s biggest recruitment company.
He said Premier had been examining potential acquisitions in Britain since late last year and that Nigel Lynn was attractive because it would fit well with Premier’s existing operations.
“Since our establishment in 1988, Premier Group has consistently outperformed its competitors in the Irish market. The UK represents the second-largest recruitment market in the world, with estimated sales of £24 billion (€35bn),” said Mr Fitzgerald.
“The purchase of Nigel Lynn Associates, the largest independent financial recruitment company in the UK, is an ideal opportunity for Premier to gain a substantial foothold,” he said.
The deal will give Premier an operation with 13 offices dotted around Britain, including a presence in London, Manchester, Leeds, Bristol and Cheltenham.
Nigel Lynn places permanent, temporary and contract accounting and finance staff at senior and junior levels. It employs around 180 people directly and was previously owned by a British venture capital firm.
Premier has headhunted Steve Carter, who has previously worked as a senior executive with a number of Britain’s main jobfinding agencies, as director of its new British division.
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