Caulfield SuperValu MBO valued at €70m

The Caulfield SuperValu group has been sold to family members in a management buyout (MBO) valued at up to €70 million.

The deal, understood to be the largest Irish private company MBO this year, has been funded by Anglo Irish Bank.

Ms Ann Marie Caulfield, her brother Mr Thomas Caulfield and group managing director Mr John McCarthy, will take over from the five original shareholders of the group. Four Caulfield brothers - Colm, Paddy, John and Tommy - founded Caulfields in New Ross in 1978 with brother-in-law Mr Martin Sinnot.

The group now employs about 1,200 people and has seven SuperValu stores in Malahide, Co Dublin; Bandon, Co Cork; New Ross and Enniscorthy, Co Wexford; Loughboy, Co Kilkenny; Waterford and Tipperary town. It also owns three shopping centres in Loughboy, Waterford and Bandon.

Caulfields is the second-largest chain within the SuperValu group and had sales of €97.4 million in the year to the end of March 2003.

Its stores average 16,000 sq ft, double the Supervalu threshold, and are understood to be the highest-selling group of stores within the Musgrave franchise chain.

The seven stores have a combined floor space of 116,000 sq ft, with the three shopping centres adding 100,000 sq ft to the group's portfolio of properties.

The group made profits of €1.67 million before tax in the year to end March 2003.

Mr Thomas Caulfield, who has worked in the retail sector for 12 years, joins the board as operations director. Ms Caulfield, a qualified solicitor, has worked with the group for nine years and is an existing director with responsibility for human resources.

Mr McCarthy is a former Musgraves employee who joined Caulfield as operations director in 2000,

Mr Colm Caulfield, who was the leading family member in the group, will remain as a non-executive director in the entity, which will now be known as Caulfield McCarthy Group (Holdings) Ltd. The former managing partner of KPMG, Mr Jerome Kennedy, will join the board as non-executive chairman.

KPMG was the corporate finance adviser to the MBO team, with Arthur Cox providing legal advice.

Mr McCarthy, who will continue as managing director, said the MBO was the culmination of a year's efforts in planning the succession of the supermarket and property business.

The new owners have said they will continue the development of the group, including the planned €4 million redevelopment of the Loughboy shopping centre, acquired by the group last year. It also intends to invest around €1 million in its Waterford Hypercentre.