Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In 2016, Ardmore Studios International Limited, ASIL, engaged IBI Corporate Finance to investigate selling the company as a going concern. ASIL, the majority shareholders in Ardmore Studios Limited, were seeking to exit, having been running the company for more than 30 years. An extensive process was undertaken by IBI Corporate Finance to find a suitable buyer, with more than 100 potential parties contacted. Ion Equity emerged as the successful bidder from that process and its acquisition vehicle, Olcott Entertainment Limited, which was recently incorporated by Ion Equity for this purpose, is now the new owner of Ardmore Studios.

With regard to the sale price and other specific financial details, I am unable to reveal what are confidential details of Enterprise Ireland’s minority shareholding disposal transaction in what is a privately held company. This applies to the Ardmore Studios transaction as it would to any other individual investment or share disposal of Enterprise Ireland where it is a minority shareholder in a privately held company. This principle of confidentiality reflects a statutory duty of confidentiality set out in section 16 of the Industrial Development (Enterprise Ireland) Act 1998. In this case, the parties also understood at the time of the sale by Enterprise Ireland and other majority shareholder vendors that, owing to section 16 of the 1998 Act, the consideration and other financial aspects of the sale would not be revealed. Disclosing such information would be in breach of the high standards of confidentiality adhered to by Enterprise Ireland.

I can confirm, however, that Enterprise Ireland negotiated the sale of its shareholding with the benefit of comprehensive due diligence undertaken by independent consultants and is satisfied that it realised full market value on a par with the other majority shareholder parties. The Government had committed that the company would be sold as a going concern and the final decision would be taken in consultation with me, as Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Enterprise Ireland and the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. This is what happened, while realising full commercial value for the shareholders selling the company, including Enterprise Ireland.

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