Environmental and plastics company One51 has received a takeover bid from Capvest, which values the unlisted plc at €288m or €1.80 per share.

The takeover bid is understood to be from Capvest, the London-based private-equity firm which also acquired a 32% stake in Irish food firm Valeo Foods from owner Origin Enterprises last week.

But the biggest question on shareholders minds currently is does this deal represents a fair price particularly given the price at which many people bought in. We must remember back to when shares in One51 were being bought at between €3 and €5.

Granted, a lot of the co-ops received the shares for free as it was spun out of the Irish Agricultural Wholesale Society (IAWS). Kerry, Glanbia, Fane Valley, Lakeland and Dairygold along with a number of other co-ops hold a collective stake in the company close to 35%.

Doldrums

One51 was in the doldrums three years ago and, after significant restructuring and refinancing, it started to pick up the pieces and re-stabilise. Over the last 12 months, One51 has started to see real growth returning based on operational performance.

On the back of this positive momentum, One51, whose shares trade on the grey market, has seen a high level of activity. Shares have traded at €1.60 over the past number of weeks and traded at up to €1.75 over the last few days – an increase of 70% in the past year.

Together with Pageant Holdings, which holds slightly more than 8%, a number of high net worth individuals such as Larry Goodman, Loughlin Quinn and Dermot Desmond are understood to control a combined 25% of the group. Goodman’s stake alone is valued in excess of €11m.

Agreement

This would mean that should any takeover bid be successful, it would need agreement of these two key groups. But will shareholders be willing to offload their investment at a time when the company has turned around with a solid strategy behind it?

Capvest wants to take a controlling interest in the business but is allowing existing shareholders to be part of the new ownership structure. Under a private equity ownership, this would change the structure and shares would not trade on the grey market.

One51 has been busy restructuring the company, which was a victim of the 2008 crash. Last year marked the end of a two-year process of selling off non-core assets, which saw the sale of Irish Pride Bakeries to WHW Bakeries and the sale of Greenore Port to the Burke Shipping group. Revenues increased 10% to €276.5m last year and profits rose from €2.8m to €12.7m. Net debt at year end decreased significantly by €33m to €7.4m.

Earlier this month, it acquired a majority stake (67%) in IPL, a Canadian plastics company with operations in the environmental, bulk-food and retail sectors, for €201m. This acquisition will see the group increase revenues significantly from €276m to €450m, while also extending the company’s international reach. One51 also hopes to liquidate its NTR investment in the coming months.

Seamus Fitzpatrick, who set up Capvest in 1999, clearly sees potential in One51 and this deal puts a real underlying value on the business, which is now firmly in growth mode.