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Team
Liam Booth, Managing Director
Liam started his business career with NCB in 1986 and over the past 23 years has accumulated a wealth of experience from the senior management positions he has held in investment banking and industry. Prior to re-joining NCB Corporate Finance as Managing Director, Liam was a Director of Key Capital, the specialist corporate finance and capital markets advisory boutique. From 2000 to 2002 Liam was Chief Financial Officer of Datalex plc and from 1996 to 2000 he was Head of Corporate Finance at Goodbody Stockbrokers.Liam's Corporate Finance experience includes:
- IPOs for Sherry Fitzgerald, alphyra, Trinity Biotech, Kingspan and Irish Continental Group plc;
- Public takeovers: Irish Continental Group plc, Barlo, alphyra, the Quinn Group takeover of Barlo Group;
- M&A : Sale of Noonan Services, sale of Mater Private, acquisition of Xtravision, acquisition of BWG, acquisition of Jeyes plc by IWP plc, sale of Dublin Drug to United Drug plc;
- Strategic advice to the Irish Government on Aer Rianta; and EBS Building Society
- Private equity fundraisings for Paddy Power, Imari Group, Sam Hire and Acquaporte
Liam served as a non-executive Director of Irish Continental Group plc from 1987 to 2004.
Email: liam.booth@ncb.ie
Tel. +353 1 611 5940
Andrew Ennis, Director
Andrew joined NCB in 2000 from ESB where he worked in the Corporate Finance department. Andrew specialises in utilities/renewable energy and private equity fundraisings.
Utilities/Infrastructure Experience
- Bord na Mona on an investment in 100MW of peaking plant capacity
- Submission to CER on behalf of Bord na Mona in relation to 2010 BNE determination
- Advised a joint venture between BGE and International Power plc on its bid for 1,000MW of thermal plant being disposed of by ESB
- Irish placement agent for Aquamarine Power Limited in its £10m private equity fundraising
- NTR plc on acquisition of majority stake in Wind Capital Group for $150m
- Refinancing of 22MW Tursillagh Windfarm
- Airtricity Holdings Limited on €1.8bn disposal to SSE plc
- ESB on disposal of 50% interest in Irish Power Systems
- Airtricity Holdings Limited on €440m private equity fundraisings 2002-2006
- Acquisition of Greenore port for Dublin Port and One51
- Report for the CER on issues facing new entrant generators to the Irish market
- Advice to EirGrid Board on capitalisation process
- Valentia consortium on its takeover of eircom plc
Private Placement Experience
- Raised £70m for the Second Property Growth Fund S.A. Group of Companies
- Ulster Bank Diageo Venture Fund on €75m fundraising
- Raised €70m for Crystal Property Development (UK)
- Adviser to Irish Broadband internet Services on €13m secured loan notes
- Raised €150m for Ardawn Developments plc I & II
Prior to joining ESB Andrew qualified as a chartered accountant with PricewaterhouseCoopers in Dublin
Email: andrew.ennis@ncb.ie
Tel. +353 1 611 5949
Kevin Gallen, Director
Kevin joined NCB in November 2007.
Kevin was Finance Director of Unidare plc for 10 years during which time he was involved in the acquisition and disposal of businesses in the US, the UK, the Netherlands and Canada.
He also was responsible for the delisting of the Company's shares from the Irish and London stock exchanges in 2006 and a capital restructuring to facilitate the distribution of €100m to shareholders.
Since leaving Unidare Kevin has spent some time pursuing a number of corporate finance projects and subsequently held the CFO role in Siteserv plc, a company listed on the AIM and IEX.
Kevin started his career with PricewaterhouseCoopers and spent 6 years in their Amsterdam office. He also worked for two years for the Bacardi Corporation prior to returning to Ireland in 1996.
Email: kevin.gallen@ncb.ie
Tel. +353 1 611 5938
Conor McCarthy, Director
Conor joined NCB in 2002 after spending 5 years in London working with Nordic investment bank, Enskilda Securities, working on a wide range of cross border deals- Acquisition of Chubb/Yale by Assa Abloy for Stg£825 million
- Acquisition by Sanitec of Twyford Bathrooms from HSBC for Stg£82 million
- Also worked on divestments of businesses on behalf of European PLCs in the UK, Denmark, Germany and Sweden
Since joining NCB, Conor has worked on a wide range of transactions including
- Acquisition of Greencore Malt for Axereal for €116m
- €390m MBO of BWG Foods Limited from Cognetas
- Reverse takover of Red Circle by Zamano PLC for €24m
- The €66m acquisition of Century Homes for Kingspan PLC
- Reverse takeover of Cardpoint PLC by alphyra
Conor also advises private companies on equity fund raisings
- Stg£15m for Canford Healthcare PLC
- €10m mezzanine funding for alphyra
- €20m for 3V
Conor was also Vice President of the Irish Tech Tour in 2004
Conor is a non executive Director of Canford Healthcare PLC
Prior to moving to London, Conor worked with PricewaterhouseCoopers in Ireland and the US
Email: conor.mccarthy@ncb.ie
Tel. +353 1 611 5989
Xavier de Mol, Director
Xavier joined NCB in June 2008 from Landsbanki and has over 10 years corporate finance experience. He joined Granville in 1998, which became part of Robert W. Baird in 1999, where he worked until 2005. From there, he joined Bridgewell which subsequently became part of Landsbanki.During his career, he has focused primarily on advising UK smaller companies and has worked on over 50 fundraisings, IPOs, takeovers, mergers and restructurings. Larger transactions he worked on included the £400 million reverse takeover of Guiness Peat by Brunel and the £1 billion acquisition of Select Appointment by Vedior.
He has an MA in English Law and an MBA from Imperial College.
Email: xavier.demol@ncb.ie
Tel. +44 207 071 5237
Mandy O'Sullivan, Director
Mandy joined NCB in March 2004 from Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein in London and has nine years corporate finance experience. Mandy has advised clients across a number of sectors including advising:
- EBS on various assignments
- An Post on its price application to ComReg
- An Post on its joint venture with Fortis to create Postbank
- Becbay Limited on its €412m acquisition of South Wharf plc
- Triode Investments on its €390m acquisition of BWG
- Ballyvara Developments on its acquisition of Great Southern Hotels, Parknasilla
- ESB on the disposal of its 50% shareholding in Irish Power Systems to Bioverda
- Kingspan on its €98m acquisition of Century Homes
- One51 on acquisitions, investments and fundraisings
- Alstom on the €1bn disposal of its industrial turbine business to Siemens
- Wal Mart on its offer for Safeway
- Barconet on its disposal to Scientific Atlanta
- Petronas on the transfer of assets and restructuring of Premier Oil
- Drax on its restructuring
- AngloGold on the issuance of a convertible bond
Prior to joining Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, Mandy qualified as a chartered accountant with Arthur Andersen in Dublin.
Email: mandy.o'sullivan@ncb.ie
Tel. +353 1 611 5936
Jonathan Simmons, Director
Jonathan joined NCB in April 2001 and previously had 4 years financial services audit experience with Deloitte & Touche. Since joining NCB, Jonathan has advised on a number of mandates including:- Aer Lingus' disposals of Futura and ASI, its investment in Icarus and the Aer Lingus investor process
- acquisition of
- Ulster Bank's disposal of Cunnigham Coates
- Nesbitt Acquisition Limited's takeover of Arnotts plc
- Quinn Group's takeover of Barlo Group
- Precinct Investment's takeover of Gresham Hotel Group
- Disposal of Irish Estates (Management) Limited
Email: jonathan.simmons@ncb.ie
Tel. +353 1 611 5945
Christopher Caldwell, Director
Chris joined the London office of NCB in 2007 after spending 4 years with Insinger de Beaufort, where he led a large range of transactions on behalf of Public and Private companies including mergers and acquisitions, private placings, initial public offerings, secondary issues, and restructurings.In addition to acting for UK and Irish clients, Chris has substantial international experience having advised clients in Europe and in Emerging Markets across a variety of sectors.
Chris qualified as a Solicitor in 2003, is a Member of the Securities and Investment Institute and holds a Bachelor of Business Studies from Trinity College Dublin.
Email: christopher.caldwell@ncb.ie
Tel. +44 207 071 5234
Barclay Clibborn, Associate Director
Barclay joined NCB in 2005 and has advised on a broad range of M&A and fundraising assignments including:
- Bord Gáis on its proposed acquisition of certain ESB power generation assets
- Panda Waste Services on a review of its strategic options
- Management in its buyout of Escher Group from TA Associates
- Choice Hotels Ireland on its disposal of Quality Hotels and Comfort Inns to TVC Holdings
- Mater Private Healthcare on its disposal to private equity firm CapVest, management and staff
- Canford Healthcare on its private client placing
- Zamano on its listing on the Irish Enterprise Exchange
- Triode Investments on its acquisition of BWG
- Smart Telecom on its restructuring and take private
- 3V on its venture capital fundraising
Barclay graduated with a First Class Honours Computer Science degree from University College Cork in 1999, followed by a First Class Honours MBA from Trinity College Dublin in 2005. Prior to joining NCB, Barclay spent four years in the mobile telecoms market in Finland and also worked with IONA Technologies in Dublin and Macquarie Bank in Sydney.
Barclay is also a member of the Advisory Board of the Trinity School of Business.
Email: barclay.clibborn@ncb.ie
Tel. +353 1 611 5934
Shane Lawlor, Associate Director
Joined NCB in February 2007
Since joining he was worked on several M&A transactions including
- Birchhall Investments acquisition of Xtra-vision;
- Advising the independent directors of Irish Continental Group during the recent takeover processes;
- Advising zamano plc on its acquisition of Red Circle Technologies as a reverse take-over
2005 to 2007 - Hewlett Packard, Strategy & Corporate Development (London)
- Strategy & Corporate Development Manager for the EMEA region
2000 to 2005 - Close Brothers Corporate Finance, Assistant Director (London)
- 6 years investment banking experience with Close Brothers in London and advised on a broad range of transactions including the following:
- Roxboro Group plc (renamed Dialight plc) disposal of 2 divisions and return of £70m cash to shareholders (2005);
- Sale of Astron to RR Donnelly for £520m (2005);
- Rule 3 sell-side adviser to API Group plc following takeover approach from Illinois Tool Works (2005);
- Restructuring of $565m of senior debt and convertible loan notes for Henlys Group plc (2004);
- 3i's investment in Williams Lea (2004);
- Radstone Technology plc's acquisitions of Octec and ICS including related equity fund raisings (2003 and 2004);
- Disposal of Dutton Forshaw motor dealership group to Lloyds TSB (2003);
- Danka Business Systems $750m restructuring and non-core disposals (2001);
- Deutsche Bank and Grainger Trust's recommended offer for BPT plc;
- Kerry Group plc recommended offer for Golden Vale plc (2001); and
- Enterprise plc reverse takeover by ARM Services (2000)
1996 to 1999 - Coopers & Lybrand (Dublin)
- Shane qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Coopers & Lybrand
Email: shane.lawlor@ncb.ie
Tel. +353 1 611 5943
Shane Sorohan, Associate Director
Shane joined NCB in 2005 and since then he has worked on a number of transactions including advising:
- The Noonan family on the disposal of Noonan Services Group to Alchemy Partners
- PGF on its €100m private equity fundraisings
- Restructuring of the PGF Group and provision of ongoing financial/strategic advice to the company
- Crystal UK Development Fund on its €70m private equity fundraising and provision of ongoing financial/strategic advice
- Largo Foods on its €62.3m acquisition of Tayto from C&C plc
- Becbay Limited on its €412m acquisition of South Wharf plc
- The Gunne family on its disposal of Gunne Residential and Gunne Financial Services
- Taggart Holdings on its acquisition of Yuill Group
- Ballyvara Developments on its acquisition of Great Southern Hotel, Parknasilla
- CBRE Gunne on its disposal to CBRE
Shane graduated from University College Dublin with a Bachelor of Commerce degree and from the Michael Smurfit Graduate School of Business with an MBS in Financial Services, in both cases with first class honours. Prior to joining NCB Shane worked for two years in the Irish property sector.
Email: shane.sorohan@ncb.ie
Tel. +353 1 611 5947
Alan Mahon, Senior Manager
Alan joined NCB Corporate Finance in November 2007.
Alan previously worked with Grant Thornton Corporate Finance during which time he was involved in the acquisition and disposal of businesses across a variety of sectors. Prior to that Alan worked with Ernst and Young in Dublin and JP Morgan Fleming Asset Management in London.
Alan qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 2002 and holds a BSc (1997) and MSc (1999) in Finance from University College Cork.
Email: alan.mahon@ncb.ie
Tel. +353 1 611 5964
Shane Cooke, Executive
Shane joined NCB Corporate Finance in July 2007.
Shane is a graduate of Trinity College, D.I.T and Uppsala University, Sweden. He holds a joints honours degree in Business and Economics and a postgraduate in Law. Prior to joining NCB, Shane worked in the investment banking division of Citigroup, London and for a commercial law firm in Dublin.
Email: shane.cooke@ncb.ie
Tel. +353 1 611 5857
Daragh Lane, Executive
Daragh joined NCB in March, 2007. Prior to joining NCB, Daragh worked in GE's Corporate Audit Staff (CAS), auditing various GE businesses throughout Europe and the US.
Prior to joining the CAS group Daragh completed GE's Financial Management Program (FMP) working in various financial roles in GE's financial services businesses.
During his time in NCB Daragh has provided strategic advice to a broad range of clients including:
Daragh holds a BA in European Business and French from DCU and is a graduate of ESC Reims, France.
Email: daragh.lane@ncb.ie
Tel. +353 1 611 5935
Conor Murtagh, Executive
Conor Joined NCB Corporate Finance in April 2008.
Since joining NCB Conor has worked on a number of M&A and fundraising assignments including advising:
- Axéréal Union De Cooperatives Agricoles on its €116m acquisition of Greencore Malt
- Birchhall Investments Ltd on the acquisition of Xtra-vision Ltd from Blockbuster Inc.
- Zapa Technology Ltd on its venture capital fundraising
Conor worked previously with Kingspan Group PLC on business development and holds a first-class honors Business Studies degree from Dublin City University.
Email: conor.murtagh@ncb.ie
Tel. +353 1 611 5953
