Private equity company MML Growth Capital Partners’ Irish branch has offloaded its shares in Eastland Engineering Supplies (EES) for a substantial profit on its initial investment. The Dublin-based supply chain management business was founded by couple Tommy and Catherine Hynes and later bought by MML in 2019. As part of its subsequent expansion, EES, which specialises in repair and maintenance services for factories, established operations in the US and has a network of clients in the UK, US, and Ireland.
Vallen, a US industrial supply chain management firm, has agreed to purchase MML Ireland’s stake. EES CEO Robert Keatinge interpreted the arrangement as a positive reflection of the company’s potential for growth, crediting MML’s investment for laying the groundwork for expansion. Vallen CEO Chuck Delph praised EES as a high-quality supply chain services provider and anticipated the acquisition to facilitate extended European operations and growth in various sectors. MML’s Neil McGowan signaled that the transaction is timely and compatible with the MML’s strategy for investment partnerships.
Rory Brooks and Jim Read co-founded MML Capital, which manages about €2 billion assets, in London in 1988. The company entered the Irish market in 2013, under leaders Neil McGowan and Rory Quirke. The EES deal is MML Capital Ireland’s ninth successful company withdrawal, one of which was its stake in courier company Fastway that got sold in 2022 to Elysian Capital. Over the last 11 years, the firm has made investments worth roughly €210 million across 21 main investments and 15 add-on purchases, making it one of the busiest private equity companies in the sector.