FOUNDED IN 2000, Ion Equity is a private equity investor with offices in London and Dublin. Neil O'Leary, chairman and chief executive, recalls at company planning stages in 1999 there was plenty of opportunity for advising and investing in emerging technology companies.

The team's vision was to build a very high-quality, international, advisory and investment business. However, shortly after inception the technology bubble burst, and the company's client base of technology companies started to struggle. They decided to tough it out, and based on a string of good results for clients their reputation grew, work started to flow, and they opened a London office.

Ion's current focus is on acquiring businesses with an enterprise value between €50 million and €500 million in Ireland and Britain. Businesses where Ion Equity has a major or controlling stake include Topaz and SWS in Ireland and Blue Ocean in the UK. These businesses have a combined turnover of over €5 billion and employ circa 2,000 people, with many more employed providing goods and services to these companies.

In running these businesses, Ion works in partnership with, and is dependent on, the excellence and hard work of the individuals and teams directly involved.

Topaz is one of Ireland's largest private companies. It is a combination of the old Irish Shell and Statoil Ireland businesses. It imports, distributes and sells fuel products, and is a major player in the convenience shop market. The company has recently started to introduce the Topaz brand to customers in a €50 million roll-out and expansion creating 300 new jobs.

The UK-based Blue Ocean is a leading European low-cost blender and supplier of transport fuels. It supplies 5 per cent of the UK's transport fuels as well as exporting internationally.

SWS Natural Resources is on the way to becoming Ireland's largest wind-energy producer with a significant number of projects up and running and about €500 million of a fully-funded investment programme well under way.

Product/Service:

Ion Equity buys and builds companies operating predominantly in the Irish and UK markets.

Customers:

Ion Equity's investments are predominantly in the energy sector but it operates across most sectors. It has an important property and hotel function, and manages the extensive Topaz property portfolio.

What is your biggest business achievement?

The creation of Topaz by buying and merging Shell and Statoil was a pivot point in terms of scale and the platform it has given us in doing more deals. Building all the businesses with which we have been involved and being considerate of all stakeholders' interests may be our most important achievement so far.

Building the trust and confidence of bankers and investors has been key. Like many who have built businesses from Ireland, the value of the relentless hard work of the Anglo Irish bankers standing beside us cannot be overestimated.

Importantly, we seem to work well in relationships with the talented management teams who run and grow the business on a day-to-day basis.

Express the biggest challenge you see your industry facing?

Soaring commodity prices and the credit crunch at the same time as a dampening of consumer and business confidence.

However, most clouds have a silver lining, and the downtime is also likely to give rise to good investment opportunities.

How do you recharge your batteries?

I attempt to sit around and do little but that never lasts with an active young family, so kicking a football, walking the dog, the very odd game of golf, skiing, a glass of wine, holidays - simple stuff - helps me unwind.

There is little complaint from any of us in Ion Equity for being tired occasionally - we have had a great run so far.