Irish-founded financial services firm Centralis has secured a major investment that values the business at more than €500 million.
The company, which was set up in 2011 by several former AIB employees, said the investment from California-based private equity firm HGGC was the largest of its kind in the Irish market and would help it achieve “ambitious” growth targets.
It gives HGGC a majority stake in the business.
Centralis said it was on course to break the $100 million revenue threshold this year and was hoping to grow revenues and profits by 300 per cent by 2030 following a period of “strong organic growth”.
Since the Irish leadership team’s high-profile departure from AIB in 2011, Centralis has expanded to employ more than 500 people 13 countries, with 30 based in its Dublin office and 20 in Belfast.
The company, which supplies financial and business support services to asset managers, international funds, real estate firms and aviation structures, recently moved to a larger premises on Harcourt Street in Dublin.
It said it was planning to double its local headcount in next two years.
The founders were originally behind a management buyout offer for AIB International Financial Services (IFS) in 2011.
However, when AIB decided to sell the business to another firm, they set up their own business. This sparked a legal dispute that was later settled.
At the time, AIB was being bailed out by the government as part of a broader effort to stabilise the Irish banking sector.
Chief executive Aidan Foley said: “The strategic investment by HGGC, the largest investment of its kind to date in our sector for an Irish-founded management team, will allow us to continue to invest in our Irish and global teams, and provide excellent service to our diverse portfolio of clients.
“As we look to new markets, we will continue to expand in line with our targets, further cementing Centralis Group as an industry leader in providing customer-centric services, driven by a growing workforce of highly experienced local and sector-specific professionals.”
Centralis’s Irish executive management team includes Gerry McEvoy, head of corporate services and founder, alongside Mr Foley; chief financial officer Dermot Caden; and head of capital markets Conor Blake, who was recently hired to help scale the business in Ireland “focusing on capital market and treasury solutions for global asset managers and multinational corporates”.
