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Team

Liam Booth, Managing Director

Liam started his business career with NCB in 1986 and over the past 23 years has accumulated a wealth of experience from the senior management positions he has held in investment banking and industry. Prior to re-joining NCB Corporate Finance as Managing Director, Liam was a Director of Key Capital, the specialist corporate finance and capital markets advisory boutique. From 2000 to 2002 Liam was Chief Financial Officer of Datalex plc and from 1996 to 2000 he was Head of Corporate Finance at Goodbody Stockbrokers.
 
Liam's Corporate Finance experience includes:
  • IPOs for Sherry Fitzgerald, alphyra, Trinity Biotech, Kingspan and Irish Continental Group plc;
  • Public takeovers: Irish Continental Group plc, Barlo, alphyra, the Quinn Group takeover of Barlo Group;
  • M&A : Sale of Noonan Services, sale of Mater Private, acquisition of Xtravision, acquisition of BWG, acquisition of Jeyes plc by IWP plc, sale of Dublin Drug to United Drug plc;
  • Strategic advice to the Irish Government on Aer Rianta; and EBS Building Society
  • Private equity fundraisings for Paddy Power, Imari Group, Sam Hire and Acquaporte

Liam served as a non-executive Director of Irish Continental Group plc from 1987 to 2004.

Email: liam.booth@ncb.ie

Tel. +353 1 611 5940

   

   

Andrew Ennis, Director

Andrew joined NCB in 2000 from ESB where he worked in the Corporate Finance department. Andrew specialises in utilities/renewable energy and private equity fundraisings.

Utilities/Infrastructure Experience

  • Bord na Mona on an investment in 100MW of peaking plant capacity
  • Submission to CER on behalf of Bord na Mona in relation to 2010 BNE determination
  • Advised a joint venture between BGE and International Power plc on its bid for 1,000MW of thermal plant being disposed of by ESB
  • Irish placement agent for Aquamarine Power Limited in its £10m private equity fundraising
  • NTR plc on acquisition of majority stake in Wind Capital Group for $150m
  • Refinancing of 22MW Tursillagh Windfarm
  • Airtricity Holdings Limited on €1.8bn disposal to SSE plc
  • ESB on disposal of 50% interest in Irish Power Systems
  • Airtricity Holdings Limited on €440m private equity fundraisings 2002-2006
  • Acquisition of Greenore port for Dublin Port and One51
  • Report for the CER on issues facing new entrant generators to the Irish market
  • Advice to EirGrid Board on capitalisation process
  • Valentia consortium on its takeover of eircom plc

Private Placement Experience

  • Raised £70m for the Second Property Growth Fund S.A. Group of Companies
  • Ulster Bank Diageo Venture Fund on €75m fundraising
  • Raised €70m for Crystal Property Development (UK)
  • Adviser to Irish Broadband internet Services on €13m secured loan notes
  • Raised €150m for Ardawn Developments plc I & II

Prior to joining ESB Andrew qualified as a chartered accountant with PricewaterhouseCoopers in Dublin

Email: andrew.ennis@ncb.ie

Tel. +353 1 611 5949

   

   

Kevin Gallen, Director

Kevin joined NCB in November 2007.

Kevin was Finance Director of Unidare plc for 10 years during which time he was involved in the acquisition and disposal of businesses in the US, the UK, the Netherlands and Canada.

He also was responsible for the delisting of the Company's shares from the Irish and London stock exchanges in 2006 and a capital restructuring to facilitate the distribution of €100m to shareholders.

Since leaving Unidare Kevin has spent some time pursuing a number of corporate finance projects and subsequently held the CFO role in Siteserv plc, a company listed on the AIM and IEX.

Kevin started his career with PricewaterhouseCoopers and spent 6 years in their Amsterdam office. He also worked for two years for the Bacardi Corporation prior to returning to Ireland in 1996.

Email: kevin.gallen@ncb.ie

Tel. +353 1 611 5938

   

   

Shane Lawlor, Director
 
Shane Joined NCB in February 2007

Since joining he was worked on several M&A transactions including

  • Birchhall Investments acquisition of Xtra-vision;
  • Advising the independent directors of Irish Continental Group during the recent takeover processes;
  • Advising zamano plc on its acquisition of Red Circle Technologies as a reverse take-over

2005 to 2007 - Hewlett Packard, Strategy & Corporate Development (London)

  • Strategy & Corporate Development Manager for the EMEA region

2000 to 2005 - Close Brothers Corporate Finance, Assistant Director (London)

  • 6 years investment banking experience with Close Brothers in London and advised on a broad range of transactions including the following:
  • Roxboro Group plc (renamed Dialight plc) disposal of 2 divisions and return of £70m cash to shareholders (2005);
  • Sale of Astron to RR Donnelly for £520m (2005);
  • Rule 3 sell-side adviser to API Group plc following takeover approach from Illinois Tool Works (2005);
  • Restructuring of $565m of senior debt and convertible loan notes for Henlys Group plc (2004);
  • 3i's investment in Williams Lea (2004);
  • Radstone Technology plc's acquisitions of Octec and ICS including related equity fund raisings (2003 and 2004);
  • Disposal of Dutton Forshaw motor dealership group to Lloyds TSB (2003);
  • Danka Business Systems $750m restructuring and non-core disposals (2001);
  • Deutsche Bank and Grainger Trust's recommended offer for BPT plc;
  • Kerry Group plc recommended offer for Golden Vale plc (2001); and
  • Enterprise plc reverse takeover by ARM Services (2000)

1996 to 1999 - Coopers & Lybrand (Dublin)

  • Shane qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Coopers & Lybrand

Email: shane.lawlor@ncb.ie

Tel. +353 1 611 5943

   

   

Conor McCarthy, Director

Conor joined NCB in 2002 after spending 5 years in London working with Nordic investment bank, Enskilda Securities, working on a wide range of cross border deals

  • Acquisition of Chubb/Yale by Assa Abloy for Stg£825 million
  • Acquisition by Sanitec of Twyford Bathrooms from HSBC for Stg£82 million
  • Also worked on divestments of businesses on behalf of European PLCs in the UK, Denmark, Germany and Sweden

Since joining NCB, Conor has worked on a wide range of transactions including

  • Acquisition of Greencore Malt for Axereal for €116m
  • €390m MBO of BWG Foods Limited from Cognetas
  • Reverse takover of Red Circle by Zamano PLC for €24m
  • The €66m acquisition of Century Homes for Kingspan PLC
  • Reverse takeover of Cardpoint PLC by alphyra

Conor also advises private companies on equity fund raisings

  • Stg£15m for Canford Healthcare PLC
  • €10m mezzanine funding for alphyra
  • €20m for 3V

Conor was also Vice President of the Irish Tech Tour in 2004

Conor is a non executive Director of Canford Healthcare PLC

Prior to moving to London, Conor worked with PricewaterhouseCoopers in Ireland and the US

Email: conor.mccarthy@ncb.ie

Tel. +353 1 611 5989

   

   

Mandy O'Sullivan, Director
 
Mandy joined NCB in March 2004 from Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein in London and has nine years corporate finance experience. Mandy has advised clients across a number of sectors including advising:

  • EBS on various assignments
  • An Post on its price application to ComReg
  • An Post on its joint venture with Fortis to create Postbank
  • Becbay Limited on its €412m acquisition of South Wharf plc
  • Triode Investments on its €390m acquisition of BWG
  • Ballyvara Developments on its acquisition of Great Southern Hotels, Parknasilla
  • ESB on the disposal of its 50% shareholding in Irish Power Systems to Bioverda
  • Kingspan on its €98m acquisition of Century Homes
  • One51 on acquisitions, investments and fundraisings
  • Alstom on the €1bn disposal of its industrial turbine business to Siemens
  • Wal Mart on its offer for Safeway
  • Barconet on its disposal to Scientific Atlanta
  • Petronas on the transfer of assets and restructuring of Premier Oil
  • Drax on its restructuring
  • AngloGold on the issuance of a convertible bond

Prior to joining Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, Mandy qualified as a chartered accountant with Arthur Andersen in Dublin.

Email: mandy.o'sullivan@ncb.ie

Tel. +353 1 611 5936

   

   

Jonathan Simmons, Director

Jonathan joined NCB in April 2001 and previously had 4 years financial services audit experience with Deloitte & Touche.

Since joining NCB, Jonathan has advised on a number of mandates including the public company takeovers of Arnotts plc, Gresham plc and Barlo plc; the acquisitions of Yuill Homes, Ryan Hotels and Champion Sports; the disposals of disposals of CBRE Gunne, Cunningham Coates Stockbrokers, Irish Estates and Noonan Services Group;

Semi-state advisory work for Aer Lingus on its disposals of Futura, ASI and Icarus; the buyout of minority shareholders in Ireland's leading indigenous electrical goods retailer; advice to Independent Directors of ICG plc on offers from ICG management and the One51 and Doyle Group consortium Moonduster and the securitisation of the Aviva Stadium naming rights income on behalf of New Stadium Limited.

Email: jonathan.simmons@ncb.ie

Tel. +353 1 611 5945

   

   

Alan Mahon, Associate Director
 
Alan joined NCB Corporate Finance in November 2007.

Alan is a Chartered Accountant and graduated from University College Cork with a Master's Degree in Finance.

Prior to joining NCB, Alan worked with Grant Thornton Corporate Finance, Ernst and Young and JP Morgan Fleming Asset Management.

Email: alan.mahon@ncb.ie

Tel. +353 1 611 5964

   

   

Michael Hussey, Senior Manager - Debt Advisory
 
Michael joined NCB in October 2011 to focus on providing debt and restructuring advice.
 
Michael previously worked with Deloitte in both the UK and Ireland, where he was a Senior Manager in its Restructuring Advisory team since 2008. In this time Michael provided advice to banks on a wide variety of challenged cases. Assignments involved independent business reviews and options analysis, providing follow-on advice through refinancing and restructuring processes, with experience of new equity injections, debt for equity swaps and accelerated M&A. This included advising the RBS-led banking syndicate of lenders to Payzone plc on its debt and capital restructuring in 2010.

In 2010 Michael undertook a five month secondment to NAMA where he worked as a Portfolio Manager, reviewing business plans, borrower requests and debt reduction strategy proposals.

Prior to 2008 Michael worked in the Transaction Services team of Deloitte London focusing on delivering corporate and private equity M&A due diligence.

At NCB, Michael uses his restructuring experience to assist companies, shareholders, creditors and other stakeholders facing complex financial situations and challenging capital structures, providing senior management with ongoing support so they can focus on maximising the operational performance of their business and formulating optimal solutions for stakeholders in all situations.

Michael graduated from Trinity College Dublin in 2002 with a degree in economics, and subsequently qualified as a chartered accountant (ICAEW) in 2005.

Email: michael.hussey@ncb.ie

Tel. +353 1 611 5946

   

   

Daragh Lane, Manager
 
Daragh joined NCB in March, 2007. Prior to joining NCB, Daragh worked in GE's Corporate Audit Staff (CAS), auditing various GE businesses throughout Europe and the US.

Prior to joining the CAS group Daragh completed GE's Financial Management Program (FMP) working in various financial roles in GE's financial services businesses.

During his time in NCB Daragh has provided strategic advice to a broad range of clients including:

  • Choice Hotels Ireland on its disposal of the Quality and Comfort Inns
  • An Post on its pricing strategy and communication with the Department of Communications, Energy & Natural Resources
  • LRSDC on the monetization of naming rights for the new Aviva Stadium
  • Daragh holds a BA in European Business and French from DCU and is a graduate of ESC Reims, France.

    Email: daragh.lane@ncb.ie

    Tel. +353 1 611 5935

       

       

    Shane Cooke, Executive
     
    Shane joined NCB Corporate Finance in July 2007.
     
    Since joining NCB, Shane has provided strategic advice to a broad range of clients including:

    • Farmer Business Developments plc on its investment and joint venture arrangement with FBD Holdings plc to share both the management and ownership of FBD Property & Leisure
    • EBS on its merger with AIB
    • EBS on its restructuring, re-capitalisation and its transfer of assets to NAMA
    • An Post on its acquisition of a majority stake in the Gift Voucher Shop

    Shane holds a BA and MA in Business and Economics from Trinity College, Dublin and a Postgraduate Diploma in Law from Dublin Institute of Technology. Shane has also completed the Corporate Restructuring, Mergers & Acquisitions programme at Harvard Business School. Prior to joining NCB, Shane worked in the investment banking division of Citigroup, London and for a commercial law firm in Dublin.

    Email: shane.cooke@ncb.ie

    Tel. +353 1 611 5857

       

       

    Conor Murtagh, Executive
     
    Conor Joined NCB Corporate Finance in April 2008.
     
    Since joining NCB Conor has worked on a number of M&A and fundraising assignments including advising:

    • Valeo Foods on its acquisition of Jacob Fruitfield Foods Group
    • Axéréal Union De Cooperatives Agricoles on its €116m acquisition of Greencore Malt
    • Birchhall Investments Ltd on the acquisition of Xtra-vision Ltd from Blockbuster Inc.
    • Zapa Technology Ltd on its venture capital fundraising

    Conor worked previously with Kingspan Group PLC on business development and holds a first-class honors Business Studies degree from Dublin City University and is a member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).

    Email: conor.murtagh@ncb.ie

    Tel. +353 1 611 5953

       

       

    Lucinda Woods, Executive
     
    Lucinda joined NCB Corporate Finance in September 2011.

    She qualified as a Chartered Accountant with KPMG in Dublin and was a prize winner in the final admitting examinations. While at KPMG, she audited companies across a variety of sectors and markets. She also previously worked at IBI Corporate Finance and at Société Générale.

    Lucinda holds an MBA with Distinction from Harvard Business School, where she was a Fulbright Scholar. She is also a graduate of Oxford University (Balliol College) with a BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE).

    Email: lucinda.woods@ncb.ie

    Tel. +353 1 611 5948

       

       

    Alan O'Riordan, Graduate
     
    Alan joined NCB Corporate Finance in February 2011.
     
    Alan holds a first-class honours Mechanical Engineering degree from University College Dublin and a Masters in Quantitative Finance from the Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School. Alan is currently studying to become a member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).

    Email: alan.oriordan@ncb.ie

    Tel. +353 1 611 5932