ONE MORE THING:PETER CROWLEY'S private equity group FL Partners has had a busy week. On Monday, it announced the acquisition of Tomsburg Group in Cavan for an undisclosed sum. This was its third deal in 12 months.
Around the same time this deal was being consummated, Crowley, who set up FL with fellow financier Neil Hughes, was making two appointments to the board of Kaymed, the maker of premium-end foam bed mattresses and FL Partners' first acquisition.
Head of marketing Rosemary Turley has been elevated to the top table but of more significance is the appointment of Brit Andrew Clark as a non-executive director. Clark has been advising FL Partners for some months. He is a former managing director of Silentnight Group, which sells one-in-four beds in the UK and owns several leading brands.
Crowley and FL haven't been resting on their laurels since taking over Kaymed, which came with a €60 million price tag. It has signed deals with two international bed retailers that will see its products sold in an additional 180 stores in Britain and Canada, bringing its retail reach to 600. It has just struck a deal with House of Fraser that will see its speciality beds on display at the posh retailer's flagship Oxford Street store and other outlets. Its turnover is thought to be about €40 million and rising.
FL has taken a punt on people continuing to spend more on their mattresses - 27 per cent of mattresses sold now cost more than €1,000 each, compared with 14 per cent in 2000.
Irish people are spending up to €15,000 on beds, although we have some way to go to catch up with Americans who are paying up to €50,000.
It remains to be seen if that lofty level of discretionary spending will be sustained in these more straitened economic times. Crowley will be hoping his dream partnership doesn't become a nightmare.
