Upmarket notebook maker Moleskine’s owner, Belgian group D’leteren, is poised to buy a leading Irish car parts distributor, it has emerged.
Autodistribution SAS, one of the Brussels-based specialist investor’s businesses, recently bid for Top Part Holdings Ltd and five linked companies.
Mergers regulator, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) said this week that the two companies had notified their proposed merger to it.
A spokeswoman for D’leteren confirmed the move on Wednesday saying its company PHE/Autodistribution was “in the process of acquiring the Top Part Holdings group of companies in Ireland”.
She added that it had begun necessary procedures with the competition authorities. D’leteren did not comment on the price.
Tralee Co Kerry-headquartered Top Part Holdings has 21 outlets across the State supplying auto components to the motor trade and car owners.
Run by chief executive Donal Dillane, it is one of the better known businesses in its industry. The group did not respond to requests for a comment on Wednesday.
The latest accounts filed for Top Part Holding Ltd show that liabilities exceeded assets by more than €770,000 in December 2023.
Amounts due to other group companies accounted for €2.3 million of its total short-term liabilities of €2.8 million. It owed trade creditors €113,000.
Staff numbers grew to 46 on average in 2023 from 41 the previous year.
Top Part Holdings lost €352,924 in 2023, a 75 per cent increase on the €198,459 loss it recorded the previous year. The figures do not include company turnover as the accounts are abridged.
The CCPC notes that Top Part Holdings provides management and administrative services to several linked companies in auto parts distribution.
Autodistribution is part of PHE, 90 per cent owned by D’leteren, which runs motor parts distribution businesses in six western European countries.
The group has significant motor trade interests. D’leteren Automotive is Volkswagen’s official distributor in Belgium and also distributes Bentley, Lamborghini, Bugatti and Porsche, among others there.
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The group has shares in vehicle glass repair specialist, Belron, and materials handler, TVH, which have Irish businesses. Its spokeswoman noted there was no overlap between these operations and Top Part.
D’leteren bought Moleskine in 2016 and owns the stationery maker outright.
Irish law requires parties to acquisitions or mergers to notify the CCPC where their turnovers in the previous financial year were €10 million or more, or the combined turnover of the businesses is €60 million or more.
The commission reviews deals to ensure that they do not interfere in commercial competition. Transactions cannot go ahead without its approval.
