Tony O'Brien was understandably ebullient with the outcome of the sale of Cantrell & Cochrane to his management group, backed by BC Partners. The C&C chief executive has always championed flotation as the ultimate objective for the company - now he will almost certainly get his wish with a flotation in two to three years time part of the arrangement with BC Partners, the main backer of the MBO.
The British group bridles at being referred to as a venture capital outfit, much preferring to be called an investment house which specialises in management buyouts.
Too often venture capitalists are seen as "slash-and-burn" merchants who have to strip a company to pay off the debt associated with the deal, and BC certainly did not want to be viewed like that in the C&C buyout.
London sources have indicated that BC is a much more long-term investor and usually backs management to expand a company to a size where a hefty profit can be made when it is eventually floated. And that is the definite strategy for C&C.
The eight-strong management team, of course, has a great incentive to expand the company - the more the company is worth, the more valuable its stake when the company is floated. It is no overstatement to say that the management group stands to become very wealthy indeed if C&C performs as it should over the next two to three years.
There is a belief too, that Tony O'Brien (60), will see C&C through to its flotation and then possibly become chairman of the plc, with one of the management team then becoming chief executive.
So where will the growth come from? The buoyancy of the domestic economy will be a major factor in generating strong organic growth, but the management group knows only too well that serious acquisitions will be needed if the group is to grow substantially.
Tony O'Brien has already said that he sees potential acquisitions in spirits brands being sold off by the big international drinks group and the Greek brandy, Metaxa, is one likely target for the revamped C&C. And having being unshackled from Allied Domecq, C&C can look for acquisitions anywhere - including sectors it was previously excluded from - as a subsidiary of Allied Domecq.
But food distribution and snack foods in the Republic are other likely targets - after all C&C is primarily a distribution group although it does manufacture some of its own brands such as Club, Ballygowan, Carolans and Irish Mist.
Distributing non-frozen food and buying brands such as Tayto would be seen in the market as an ideal route to expand from the core drinks business.
Others preening themselves from the outcome of the C&C deal are the bankers at AIB's special finance unit - who together with DLJ - assembled a financing package that drew the plaudits of the bankers' bible, the International Finance Review.
The #360 million (£284 million) senior finance package is the first euro-denominated leveraged loan. This loan is made of A and B parts, with the B loans being offered to US investors, a move that will give an early indication of the US appetite for euro-denominated leveraged debt.
