Managers of second-line companies who moan and groan about the way that the stock market and fund managers fail to recognise their worth should not go anywhere near Jon Moulton looking for appreciation or funds.

Moulton, who runs one of Britain's biggest venture capital funds - the £1 billion sterling (€1.6 million) Alchemy Partners fund - did not mince his words when he said last week that good small companies do well in the market and the rest, with some exceptions, deserve the rating they have got from the market.

Moulton, it has to be said has a vested interest in smaller quoted companies being taken private as it has organised 10 public-to-private deals (like what Candover is doing with Clondalkin) since 1997.

He said that smaller companies become attached to a stock market listing because they think their ratings will pick up, or the management likes the status of running a public company.

"In some cases it's down to very unattractive motivations; fat-happy management not wanting to be exposed to the pressures."

Going private saves a lot of money in fees and wasted time meeting corporate governance guidelines and would enable longterm planning without having to worry about share price fluctuations. And with low interest rates making equity funding unattractive and unnecessary, the attraction of the stock market as a source of funding is no longer so compelling.

So, who is going to follow Clondalkin with the next public-to-private deal? No harm in listing the usual suspects - Abbey, Barlo, IWP, Unidare, Kingspan, Irish Continental, Athlone Extrusions, Boxmore and McInerney et al.