CIM was founded in 2003 by Darrin McCrudden and Eamonn Nally through a management buyout of the Siemens Ireland Industrial Projects division and is now one of the leading system integrators in industrial automation in Ireland. Its core business is the delivery of fully validated automated process control systems in the highly regulated life sciences industry and it maintains significant long-term relationships with the major blue-chip companies operating in this arena in Ireland.
CIM has experienced double digit growth over the past number of years as a result of the growing demand for quality process automation systems and engineering solutions from the life sciences and high-tech manufacturing industries. The Company has continued to expand in this competitive market because of its exceptional team of project managers, lead technical engineers and automation engineers that deliver consistent solutions to specification, schedule, quality and cost.
Price Bailey’ Strategic Corporate Finance (SCF) team acted as lead advisor on the Company’s sale to PA Solutions and Mark Rowntree, who led the transaction for Price Bailey commented “We are pleased to help Darrin and Eamonn on the transition of their business to PA Solutions. PA is a very good home for the CIM team, and the two companies will be able to offer a broader portfolio of consulting and engineering services to the market, whilst also competing for larger CAPEX projects.”
Darrin and Eamonn, who will remain with CIM, will aim to leverage the product innovation of ATS and the engineering excellence of PA Systems and add significant value to its current Irish client base. They will also drive the growth strategy for the combined business to strengthen their presence in regulated and non-regulated manufacturing. Eamonn comments “We have developed a strong relationship with PA Systems since our initial engagement with their leadership team and we share the same ethos for providing high-quality, technical engineering solutions and services in the automation space. We are excited to grow with the backing of an international partner.”
On working with Price Bailey, Darrin comments “It was a pleasure working with the Price Bailey team on our sale to PA Systems. They were with us every step of the way and added significant value to us as well as to the wider sales process”.
This latest transaction is another example of a successful virtual cross border deal for the Price Bailey SCF team, having also completed the sale of Diamond Pharma Services and Noahs Ark Chemicals in March 2021 with more cross border deals in progress. Simon Blake, head of Strategic Corporate Finance at Price Bailey comments. “We continue to see significant interest in UK and Irish businesses from a range of hungry international corporate acquirers. Virtual deal-making has levelled the playing field somewhat for international buyers as they can commit similar levels of effort, resource and cost as any local acquirer when it comes to origination and transacting. It will be interesting to see what happens as the world opens up.”
In addition to Price Bailey, CIM was supported by Flynn O’Driscoll (legal) and RBK (accounting and tax). PA Systems was supported by LK Shields (legal) and Mazars (financial due diligence).
Link to the official deal announcement here.
