CPL eyeing more buys on back of €9m UK purchase

Irish recruitment group CPL Resources is eyeing more acquisition opportunities — particularly in mainland Europe — on the back of strengthening its UK presence with an £8.1m (€9.3m) purchase.

The Dublin group has agreed to acquire 91% of specialist healthcare recruiter RIG Healthcare Group, an investment expected to be an immediate earnings enhancer.

RIG generated sales of £53.5m last year and had earnings of £2m. It supplies qualified medical professionals to the NHS in the UK.

It introduces specialist areas like occupational therapy, physiotherapy, and radiography to CPL’s job offering and sees the company entering the locum doctor market in Britain.

CPL said that, after the deal is completed, it will still have cash reserves of over €28m and is actively pursuing further acquisition opportunities mainly in continental Europe where it already has a strong presence.

Its second UK acquisition in a little over 18 months comes despite management warning that issues related to Brexit — as well as the changing of the political guard in the US — have “caused some uncertainty”.

The Brexit result has prompted a slight slowdown in permanent job recruitment, but CPL says that it is seeing that as irrelevant to some degree, as Britain’s ageing demographic is strengthening demand for increased numbers of specialist healthcare professionals.

For the 12 months to the end of June, CPL expects to hit its revenue targets, but anticipates a slight lowering in annual pre-tax profits.

While up 10% in the year to date, CPL’s share price dropped nearly 3.5% yesterday.