McInerney Group has stepped up its expansion into Britain with the acquisition of a home builder the north east of England for €34 million.
Bowey Homes Holdings operates in the Newcastle, Sunderland, Durham, Consett and Northumberland areas and specialises in developing a mix of brownfield and greenfield sites.
McInerneys' managing director, Barry O'Connor, said there was no overlap with its existing businesses in the north east, and as a result the new business will be immediately earnings enhancing.
McInerney already has a strong presence in the north east of England which has a population of almost three million people and annual home completions of 8,000 homes per annum.
Bowey is active on 13 sites involving 397 units and has a landbank of five sites with the potential to build 200 houses.
Bowey reported pretax profits of €5.6 million in 2005 and had net assets worth €15.75 million.