€6.67bn bid for Irish services firm DCC pushes ahead

KKR and Energy Capital Partners pushing ahead with bid ahead of Wednesday deadline

DCC chief executive Donal Murphy, with Kevin Lucey, COO, and Conor Murphy, CFO. KKR and Energy Capital Partners are attempting a takeover of the Irish services firm for £5.7bn (€6.67bn).

KKR and Energy Capital Partners are nearing a takeover of Irish services firm DCC for £5.7bn (€6.67bn), even after two large investors deemed the offer as being too low.

The consortium is pushing ahead with its existing offer of £66.72 a share for the Dublin-based firm, including a dividend, ahead of a Wednesday deadline, the people told Bloomberg, asking not to be identified discussing confidential information. DCC, a provider of energy sales and distribution across Europe and the US, said in June that it was prepared to accept the consortium’s latest offer.

DCC’s board is near to a final signoff of the transaction, the people said. The decision comes after Aviva Investors and Fidelity International, two of DCC’s largest shareholders, voiced opposition to the deal, saying the buyout firms were undervaluing DCC.

Representatives for DCC, KKR and ECP declined to comment. The talks are still ongoing and could still be delayed.

The latest proposal is 15% higher than the consortium’s first bid. It’s also a 24% premium to the stock’s closing price in London on April 28, the day prior to news of the group’s interest in DCC becoming public.

The potential sale of Dublin-headquartered DCC would mark the departure of one of the last Irish companies trading on the FTSE 100 index after firms including CRH and Paddy Power owner Flutter sought US listings. DCC distributes fuel and gas to commercial and industrial, public and domestic sectors across Europe and the US, its website shows.

KKR has been notably active in UK deals. It won a bidding war over Spectris Plc, a maker of precision testing equipment, last year, with a £4.2bn offer that topped rival Advent’s bid. It was also among a swathe of potential bidders for the controlling stake in Associated British Ports, Bloomberg reported in April.

DCC’s shares closed at £63.20 in London after briefly spiking.

Until this latest financial year, DCC operated across three main divisions — DCC Energy, DCC Healthcare, and DCC Technology. However, following a decision in late 2024, the company has been making moves to focus its operations around energy, leading to sell-off of its other operations.

DCC saw its operating profit increase to €634m in the year ended on March 31.