Latest news with #Wicklow-based
Irish Examiner
20-07-2025
- Business
- Irish Examiner
SYS Financial acquires Cork-based Qifa Financial Planners and Wicklow firm Efficient Financial
Advisory firm SYS Financial has acquired Co Cork financial planning practice Qifa Financial Planners and Wicklow-based Efficient Financial, bringing overall assets under management to €650m. Qifa Financial Planners is based in Mallow with clients right across Ireland. The firm was founded by current managing director, Sean Lynch, in 2006 and manages €76m in client assets. Efficient Financial was established in Arklow by Henry Crummy in 1976 and has since been succeeded by his sons, Harry and Derek. The firm manages €50m in client assets. Mr Lynch and Harry Crummy will move into senior roles at SYS. 'Joining SYS Financial marks an exciting new chapter for Qifa Financial Planners, our team, and our clients,' said Mr Lynch. With further acquisitions planned for 2025, SYS Financial expects to grow its assets under management to over €1bn by the end of the year. 'This is a landmark moment for SYS Financial as we welcome two highly respected firms into the group. Qifa Financial Planners and Efficient Financial bring outstanding reputations, deep client relationships, and decades of expertise to the table. These acquisitions strengthen our presence in key regional markets and reinforce our ambition to be the leading provider of client-focused financial planning in Ireland,' said SYS Financial chief executive Tony Delaney. Efficient Financial director Harry Crummy said joining SYS Financial will give the firm access to 'enhanced resources, cutting-edge technology, and broader expertise'. Founded in 2015, SYS Financial is headquartered in Nenagh and has offices nationally including in Cork, Dublin, and Waterford, offering financial solutions for employers, individuals, families, and private wealth clients. The company has a client list of more than 8,000. In March 2023, SYS acquired Dublin-based Donald P McKenna & Associates for an undisclosed sum, while May 2024 SYS acquired Cork-based Global Life & Finance, which was founded in 2000 by Seamus Fox. Last month, SYS launched an expanded private health insurance advisory service, focusing on businesses amid rising health insurance premiums.
Irish Independent
10-07-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
Thousands of files ‘deleted' by ex-director, High Court is told
A €13m deal that saw Wicklow-based food truck manufacturing firm Reward Catering bought in 2022 by a Swedish group has erupted into a major High Court feud.
Irish Examiner
17-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Examiner
Court orders HSE to pay Wicklow firm almost €3m for breach of covid ventilators contract
The HSE has been ordered to pay a medical devices company just under €3m for a breach of contract regarding the procurement of ventilators at the beginning of the covid-19 pandemic. Narooma Ltd, the Wicklow-based firm in question, had initially sued the HSE in the High Court in April 2020 after the health service failed to make payment for 350 ventilators it had agreed to purchase at the onset of the pandemic. The original deal for the machines – which were in high demand for covid-hit patients – had been worth €7.5m. In addition to the compensatory payment, believed to be close to €3m and representing the profits lost as a result of the scuppered deal, it's understood that the arbitrator ruling upon the case also directed that the HSE be held liable for all legal costs resulting from the action. Those costs will likely amount to an additional €3m resulting from the five-year arbitration – leaving the HSE facing a bill of close to €6m as a result of the case. Narooma was contacted for comment but did not respond. The company also has an outstanding High Court action against the IDA resulting from the same events, its claim being that the inward investment agency allegedly advised the HSE to back out of the initial deal, leading directly to the breach of contract. A spokesperson for the HSE did not directly address the Narooma settlement, but said regarding other monies which it has failed to recoup on foot of failed ventilator transactions with multiple companies that: 'The HSE continues the process of taking the necessary steps to recoup outstanding amounts where appropriate and possible to do so.' The Wicklow company's case contrasted markedly with that of other companies which entered into deals with the HSE to provide ventilators from China at the start of the pandemic. One company, Roqu – previously known for organising music festivals in the Middle East – received €14.1m from the HSE for 328 ventilators – only 72 of which were ever received, none of which were ever used as they failed to pass quality standards. Case background The initial agreement between the HSE and Narooma would have seen the 350 ventilators shipped to Ireland via the Far East in April and May, 2020. When the HSE informed the company that it would not be following through with the purchase that April, Narooma brought the case to the High Court. It claimed the HSE had been required under the contract entered into on March 27, 2020, to pay for the ventilators three days later on March 30, but had failed to do so, saying belatedly that it wished to conduct due diligence on the company. At the High Court, the HSE argued that the case should be referred for arbitration per the contract between the two, an argument acceded to by Judge David Barniville in June 2020. The case had been mired in arbitration for five years until the recent decision in favour of Narooma. Defamation Narooma also stated in court its intention to expand its claims against the HSE to include defamation, after the body complained about the company to An Garda Siochána – a complaint which directly led to the gardaí reporting to the Policing Authority that its economic crime bureau, in conjunction with Interpol, had intervened in an attempt to return the €7.5m to the HSE – despite the monies never having been paid in the first place – and had commenced a criminal investigation into the matter. The gardaí subsequently moved to correct the record, posting a notice in the Irish Times noting that the information it had reported to the authority was 'incorrect', and that no money had ever been paid to Narooma by the HSE.
Irish Independent
29-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
Food truck firm fails in High Court bid over disputed €2m earn-out following multi-milllion euro takeover
Family had sought court's judgment in advance of independent expert's decision A Co Wicklow-based family firm that agreed to sell its food-van business in 2022 for up to €13m to a Swedish company has failed to persuade the High Court to interfere in an accounting dispute over a more than €2m earn-out fee. The Ward family's Reward Catering business, which was owned by them through a vehicle called Sunward, was established in 2018 to construct mobile catering and food trucks. Its business surged during the pandemic, with the company becoming the biggest of its kind in Europe. The High Court said that: 'Sunward has engaged in what the Supreme Court had described as 'wasteful and premature' litigation' in seeking an advance declaration from it. Swedish conglomerate Teqnion agree to buy the Irish business in August 2022 for an initial €5.2m plus a potential earn-out to Sunward, which is controlled by Kevin, Thomas, Anne and John Ward. That earn-out consisted of three potential payments. The two firms had agreed that future disputes would be resolved by independent experts A first such payment, of €3m, was paid by Teqnion to Sunward. However, the Ward family disagreed with Teqnion's proposed second earn-out payment, which covered the period from September 1, 2023, to August 31, 2024. The earn-out was based on the gross profit the Irish catering-van business generated in a specific period. In October 2024, Teqnion delivered a draft earn-out statement to Sunward, in which it assessed the gross profit of the Irish business during the second earn-out period to be just under €2.8m, but reduced to just under €2.5m. The reason for the reduction was due to six invoices that were issued in August 2024. However, Teqnion didn't treat those transactions as income received until September 2024, when the trucks were delivered. ADVERTISEMENT Teqnion therefore argued that the sale of those trucks didn't fall within the second earn-out period, but the third. The High Court heard that as a result of this change, Teqnion claimed that the second earn-out amount due to Sunward is €222,754, rather than the almost €2.2m which Sunward claimed it would be if the six invoices had been treated as part of the revenue for the second earn-out period. The Swedish company pointed out that the required financial statements had to be prepared in accordance with accepted accounting principles and practices generally accepted in Ireland. Sunward claimed that Teqnion 'impermissibly adjusted' the gross profit in Reward Catering's management accounts by excluding the invoices from the calculations. Under the terms of the acquisition agreement, Teqnion and Sunward had agreed that any future disputes between them would be resolved by an independent expert accountant, rather than resorting to the courts. However, once they had a dispute, and before the expert determination process had commenced, Sunward initiated court proceedings regarding the dispute. It sought a declaration from the court that the expert is not entitled to refer to certain accounting standards in reaching her decision and that she is bound by a definition of gross profit contained in the agreement between the parties. The court rejected that application. 'It is clear therefore that the expert in this case is entitled to apply her interpretation of gross profit to the facts of the dispute and to come up with her adjustments, if any, to the draft earn-out statement, without any interference, in advance, from the courts,' it stated.
