Irish payroll company Immedis acquired by UKG in €575m deal

Immedis, an Irish-headquartered global payroll provider with technology and services supporting over 160 countries, is to be acquired for €575 million by UKG, a US-headquartered provider of HR, payroll, and workforce management solutions.

A&L Goodbody advised Immedis on the sale while William Fry acted as lead Irish counsel for UKG, with Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP acting as US counsel and Kinstellar acting as Bulgarian counsel.

Matheson, DLA Piper and Clerkin Lynch were among firms advising certain shareholders of Immedis.

Immedis, founded in Ireland in 2016, is a subsidiary of CluneTech, a suite of technology companies focused on simplifying global business. With 370 employees worldwide, Immedis has built an extensive multinational customer base spanning key industries.

Through the acquisition, UKG will immediately begin offering fully managed, multi-country payroll service for businesses headquartered in the US and Canada that seek support processing payroll outside of North America.

The A&L Goodbody team advising Immedis was led by Richard Grey and included corporate and M&A lawyers Phil Fogarty, Sam Sheridan, Conor Maginn, Tara McGrath, Kevin O’Connor and Sarah Long.

The William Fry team was led by corporate M&A and private equity partners Paul White and Ivor Banim, assisted by a corporate team of John Nolan and Michael Meenaghan with Maura Roe, Colm Manning, Ronan Shanahan, Máire O’Neill, Karl Victory and Olivia Heron.

The transaction was supported across the firm by Paula Deasy in property, Sonya Manzor, Rachel Fox and Shauna O’Brien in tax, David Cullen, Barry Scannell and Jordie Sattar in technology, Paul Convery and Niamh McCabe in litigation and Jeff Greene, Ian Devlin and Jane Barrett in employment and pensions.

A Matheson team led by corporate partner Robert Maloney Derham and solicitor Dan McAleese advised shareholder Lead Edge Capital alongside Goodwin Procter LLP.

Ireland’s PFH Technology Group acquired by Ricoh Europe

Cork-headquartered IT infrastructure, cloud and managed workplace services provider PFH Technology Group has been acquired by Ricoh Europe.

Arthur Cox advised sellers PFH on the transaction while Taylor Wessing advised Ricoh.

Founded in 1985, PFH is a leading integrated digital infrastructure and managed services company in Ireland. Headquartered in Cork, the company also has offices in Dublin and Galway. Through its workforce of over 750 employees, it supports more than 1,000 customers with IT and communications technology needs.

The company was founded by its current chairman and shareholder, Paul Hourican, who is stepping down from his role and will remain in an advisory capacity to the business.

The Arthur Cox team advising PFH was led by corporate and M&A partner Brian O’Gorman and included corporate and M&A lawyers Ellen Gaffney and Susan O’Leary, tax lawyers Ailish Finnerty and Ruth O’Sullivan, finance lawyers Ultan Shannon and Meghan O’Meadhra, and employment lawyers Cian Beecher and Ailbhe Moloney.

The Taylor Wessing team advising Ricoh was led by Philip Shepherd and Edward Chapman in the UK, and Adam Griffiths and Rachel McCausland in Ireland.

Fanatics Betting & Gaming in $225m PointsBet acquisition

Fanatics Betting & Gaming has acquired the US operations of Australian sports betting company PointsBet in a $225 million deal.

Matheson advised Fanatics Betting & Gaming, working alongside Morrison Cohen LLP, while Baker McKenzie advised PointsBet.

Under the terms of the sale, Fanatics will acquire PointsBet’s US operations, while PointsBet will retain its Australian and Canadian outfits.

The Matheson team advising Fanatics was led by corporate M&A partner Robert Maloney Derham, corporate M&A associates Ciara Finnan and Criona Gannon, corporate M&A solicitor Teresa Carty and trainee Stephen Buckley.

Mr Derham said: “Fanatics have grown rapidly into a full scale global digital sports platform and we were delighted to support Fanatics on this transaction, alongside the Morrison Cohen team and look forward to supporting the Irish division of the Fanatics business as the group continues on its growth trajectory.”

spaceOS acquired by Equiem

European workplace management software company spaceOS has been acquired by global proptech leader and ‘Tenant Experience’ category creator Equiem.

Mason Hayes & Curran acted for spaceOS, having acted for spaceOS since the company’s seed funding round.

The acquisition will expand Equiem’s footprint to over 25 countries and grow the suite of features available on its ‘Equiem One’ platform, increasing revenues by 20 per cent. A successful capital raise will bolster plans to expand their global footprint and continue delivering high-quality services.

The merger includes investment from Hitachi Ventures, BeyondBuild, German developer MOMENI, Caleus and others.

The Mason Hayes & Curran team was led by corporate partner Conall Geraghty and included corporate lawyer Angela Freeman, tax lawyer Niamh Caffrey and financial services lawyer Alan Burns.

Mr Geraghty said: “I am delighted to see such a great outcome for the spaceOS team. At Mason Hayes & Curran, we aim to partner with founders at an early stage (including seed funding) and build a long-term relationship which helps founders to scale internationally and achieve a positive exit for all stakeholders.”