The Irish Times Business Person of the Month: Brian O'Sullivan, Zeus Group
Zeus
Group, has been chosen as The Irish Times Businessperson of the Month for June, an award run in association with
Bank of Ireland
.
The Cork-based packaging group announced in June that it had completed bolt-on acquisitions in England and Spain that will add €20 million to its annual revenues, which will be in excess of €500 million this year.
The Irish company closed the acquisition of Empire Tapes, a Rotherham-based manufacturer of specialist adhesive tapes, and Rio Tinto Plásticos, a Spanish distributor and manufacturer of sustainable packaging products.
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36:51
The Zeus founder said Spain was a market 'that we will look to double up in over the next two to three years'.
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Founded in 1997, Zeus is one of the largest privately-owned packaging companies in Europe, with a footprint across 40 countries and employing 1,500 staff directly. The acquisitions will help the company hit revenues of about €550 million for 2025, with significant growth forecast for next year.
'What we see in our pipeline between organic [growth] and acquisitions, we'd be looking to reach to between €650 million and €700 million of revenue,' O'Sullivan told The Irish Times, adding that it could breach the €1 billion mark within the next three to five years, subject to market conditions.
'We can grow by bolt-on acquisitions, and we can grow to that figure of €1 billion; that's within our grasp.'
O'Sullivan was
named the EY Entrepreneur of the Year in 2021
. At that time, the company employed about 670 staff and had annual revenues of €300 million
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