Johnson Brothers, one of the biggest distributor of consumer goods in the country, is the subject of a takeover approach that could see the business change hands in the coming months.
The company — which holds the agency to market and distribute Procter & Gamble brands, among others — is part of the STL Logistic Group and employs more than 200 staff.
Headed by the low-profile Michael O’Riordan, the Shannon-based STL is a large logistics company with operations in Ireland, the UK and the continent. It bought the sales and marketing distributor Johnson Brothers in 2008.
A document filed in the Companies Office shows that a new company, Shannon Transport Limerick Holdings, has been established to facilitate the sale of Johnson Brothers.
It states that Johnson Brothers is currently owned by two STL group companies, and it is proposed that “a share purchase agreement will be entered into with a third party purchaser outside the group”.
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Certain “preliminary steps and restructuring” need to take place before the sale can complete, the document states. These steps include the “interim acquisition” of Johnson Brothers by the newly formed company.
If the proposed sale to the third party does not complete within a specified period, according to the the documents, the shares would be transferred back to the two STL companies.
Potential purchasers of Johnson Brothers may include Total Produce, which purchased Allegro, another well-known sales and market distributor over a decade ago.
Johnson Brothers, which was founded in 1893, is unlimited and does not file annual accounts. Its last filed accounts date back to 2007, when the company reported sales of almost €300m, and annual profits of €4m.
The company went unlimited immediately following its takeover by O’Riordan’s STL, a transaction that was backed by Bank of Scotland (Ireland).
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Johnson Brothers operates three separate divisions from its headquarters at Ballymount in west Dublin: Jaymark, Prestige and Ngage, which all supply the grocery trade.
Ngage is sole supplier of Procter & Gamble branded products into the Irish market. Jaymark represents a variety of multinational brands, including Weetabix.
Prestige, meanwhile, holds the agency for a wide range of cosmetic and beauty products.
A reorganisation of the company in 2013 led to the loss of 83 jobs.
STL Group, formerly Shannon Warehouse and Transport Group, has more than 200 customers, according to its website, and has been in business for over 35 years.
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Its customers include Diageo, Kerry Group and Dairygold. It also has a dedicated healthcare division, which supports clients such as Johnson & Johnson, Vistakon and GlaxoSmithKline.
It has over 40,000 sq metres of warehousing, and its fleet covers 6.5m miles a year. The group has a fleet of more than 100 vehicles.
Efforts to contact O’Riordan this weekend for comment proved unsuccessful.