Ticket-printer Adare being primed for sale
Dublin-based ticket-printing firm Adare is being primed for a sale that could fetch €221m (£150m), it emerged today.
Adare prints tickets for the FA Cup and owns the Prontaprint chain and the Kall Kwik network of printing stores. The company has confirmed it is looking at options including a possible sale.
The firm employs around 1,200 staff across its 12 businesses, with the majority in the UK.
A spokeswoman said Adare, which is majority-owned by an Irish private equity firm, was conducting a strategic review with a disposal one of the options being considered.
No price was put on the company but it is thought to be worth around €221m (£150m), which would value chief executive Nelson Loane’s stake at more than €15m (£10m), according to the Times.
As well as printing tickets for the FA Cup through its Kalamazoo Security Print business, it has produced tickets for the Rugby World Cup, the Worthington Cup and the Women’s FA Cup.
The group has more than 175 Prontaprint stores in Ireland and the UK offering design, copying and digital printing services. The Ruislip, Middlesex-based chain was founded in 1971 in response to the large minimum orders and high prices of traditional commercial printers.
Kall Kwik has nearly 160 centres offering business design services to companies like David Lloyd Leisure, Dulux Decorator Centres and Thistle hotels.
As well as its ticket printing and high street operations, a large part of the company’s services involve packaging, invoicing for companies, logistics and warehousing.
It also owns Irish educational book publisher CJ Fallon, which focuses on primary and secondary school text books.
The company made pre-tax profits of €6.5m (£4.4m) in its last financial year on sales of €265.6m (£180.3m).
It is thought a sale would be the preferred option, although investment bank Lazard, which was hired to conduct the strategic review, is also understood to be considering a flotation or a refinancing.
The bulk of the company was bought by Irish private equity firm Allen, McGuire & Partners when Adare delisted in 2000.
