Blackstone deal to buy majority stake in Winthrop finalised, new filings show
Leading Irish data centre engineering group expects to generate €2bn in revenue this year
A deal by US investment giant Blackstone to buy a 50.7pc stake in Dublin-based data centre engineering group Winthrop Technologies has been finalised in recent weeks, new filings show.
When it was confirmed in April, the deal was said to value the Irish firm at about €800m. Filings with one company linked to the deal show that a consideration of €613m was paid for shares by Blackstone and Winthrop management in a new “topco” that was used to effect the transaction.
It’s thought that the €613m consideration excludes debt and/or surplus cash.
The transaction to buy the stake in Winthrop was completed earlier this month, with the parties all taking stakes in WTH Topco.
That saw Blackstone’s Luxembourg-based BTO Halo vehicle take two tranches of shares in WTH Topco, for a total of €311m.
New Acorn, a new company controlled by Winthrop chief executive Anne Dooley, subscribed to tranches of shares in WTH Topco valued at a total of almost €112m.
Yewbridge, a firm that is controlled by Winthrop founder Barry English, subscribed to shares in WTH Topco worth a total of more than €120m.
The filings for WTH Topco also show that Kinwave, a company controlled by Winthrop managing director Bernard Keane, subscribed to shares valued at just over €70m.
Mr English, Ms Dooley and Mr Keane own all the 49.3pc stake in Winthrop that Blackstone didn’t buy.
Mr English, who was a non-executive director of Winthrop before the deal was announced, was the majority owner of the business. He has invested in property assets over the past number of years and at the weekend was linked to a planned €50m purchase of the luxury Mount Juliet resort, in Co Kilkenny.
The Sunday Times said he is in exclusive talks to buy the property.
When Winthrop Technologies and Blackstone announced their deal earlier this year, they said the partnership would enable the Irish company to accelerate its growth trajectory, capitalising on the continuing demand for data centres.
“The exponential growth in data, driven by the AI revolution, and increasing cloud adoption, are two major trends powering this explosive growth,” they said.
Ms Dooley said the deal marked a “new era of growth” for the Irish business.
“This is an investment in the company’s leadership, and our team at all levels, who have achieved our strong current market position and will continue to drive Winthrop Technologies into its next phase,” she said.
Winthrop Technologies expects to generate revenue of about €2bn this year.
In the financial year to the end of April 2023, it posted revenue of €1.06bn.
That compared with €685m the previous year.
It made an underlying profit of €111.8m in the 2023 financial year, which was 73pc higher than in the previous year.
The directors noted in those accounts that the performance for the year was ahead of expectations and that they expected to see continued strong growth in future years.
Dublin is by far the largest European centre for hyperscale data centre capacity, beaten only by Beijing and North Virginia.
“The exponential growth in data and increasing cloud adoption are major trends powering this explosive growth”