Celtic Linen, the nationwide commercial laundry operator serving the healthcare and hospitality sectors, has acquired Millbrook Linen. The acquisition of Millbrook Linen provides Celtic Linen with a second laundry facility located in Naas, Co. Kildare. This will operate alongside Celtic’s existing facility in Wexford and increase headcount for the combined group to over 300 FTEs. This transaction will enhance the group’s capacity and improve its service to its hospital, care home, hotel, hostel and restaurant customers in the Dublin area, and across the rest of the country.
Celtic Linen has also appointed Tom Joyce as Chairman and a non-executive director of the group. Meanwhile, Millbrook Linen founders, Karen and Keith Sheridan, will join the management team of the enlarged group and become shareholders in the enlarged Celtic Linen group. Funding for the acquisition was provided by Dublin-based SME private equity investor, Causeway Capital, with debt financing provided by Ulster Bank.
Causeway Capital initially invested in Celtic Linen in December 2016, backing the management team led by CEO Donald Campbell and CFO Joanne Somers to lead the business out of examinership. The team has since completed a multi-million euro investment programme at Celtic Linen’s facility in Wexford to improve the quality of linen and the efficiency of the equipment resulting in improved service delivery for customers.
Commenting, Donald Campbell CEO of Celtic Linen, said, “The laundry and linen business demands determination and significant investment in state-of-the-art facilities to meet customer requirements in our core sectors. This transaction caps a period of significant investment for Celtic Linen during 2017. We have now completed a major upgrade to our Wexford facility investing in new, high quality textiles to improve the efficiency of our business and the quality of service for our customers. I want to take this opportunity to thank all of Celtic’s and Millbrook’s customers, employees and suppliers for their continued support.”
Meanwhile, Keith Sheridan, founder of Millbrook Linen, stated, “We are delighted to be joining forces with Celtic Linen. This transaction enables Millbrook to offer a better service to existing customers and also provides nationwide coverage. Karen and I are delighted to be joining the Celtic team and helping the business to grow.”
