Gas supplier firmus energy, which has 110,000 domestic customers here, has been sold to an Irish company.
Yuno Group, the holding company for Yuno Energy and PrepayPower, announced its acquisition of firmus (Supply) on Thursday.
It said customers of firmus would not be affected by the change in ownership from its former owner, infrastructure fund Equitix. Firmus’s distribution arm is not included in the deal.
firmus is one of NI’s biggest energy suppliers and was previously part of firmus energy, which continues to operate the Ten Towns Gas Network. It has 113,000 customers, including businesses.
It’s the first deal north of the border for Yuno Energy and gives it a major presence in energy markets on both sides of the border.
Other Irish companies are already operating on both sides of the border, such as Northern Ireland Electricity Networks parent company ESB.
Yuno Group is the holding company for Yuno Energy and PrepayPower in the Republic.
It said the deal made it the largest gas supplier in Northern Ireland by volume, and left the group with 410,000 gas supply customers on the island of Ireland, and 600 staff.
Yuno Group is led by Cathal Fay, who founded the business in 2009, and is one of the largest operators in the electricity and gas retail markets in Ireland.
It said it uses “a sophisticated hedging operation” to enable its companies to provide market-leading prices for gas and electricity.
Niall Martindale, chief executive of firmus energy (Distribution), said: “We are very proud of the gas supply business which has been built over the last 19 years and we are grateful for the loyalty which customers have shown to us over that time.
“The supply business is now ready to stand alone, and we are confident it will go from strength to strength under the new ownership of Yuno Group, following tremendous growth under its tenure with Equitix.
“We will continue to own and operate the networks business, where our focus will be the continued growth of connections to our gas network, and the injection of renewable gases such as biomethane, which will support a strong local, and circular, decarbonised economy for Northern Ireland.”
Sion Jones, chief operating officer of Equitix, said: “We’re delighted to be handing over the firmus energy supply business to Yuno Group, who we believe will continue to grow the business.
“The partnership between Equitix and firmus has achieved incredible outcomes in the last five years and we’re proud to have been participants in firmus’ story of growth while delivering critical infrastructure across the UK.”
Mr Fay said it was “a transformational deal for the group”.
“It increases our customer base by a third, hugely increases our customer numbers in gas, and opens up an exciting new avenue for continued growth in a new market.
“We believe we can add real value to firmus energy’s strong platform, and that the transaction will greatly strengthen our overall business.
“We recognise the outstanding service provided to customers of firmus energy and we are committed to building upon this to further enhance the services we offer to all our customers across Northern Ireland.”
Yuno Group was advised by Tughans and KPMG. firmus energy was advised by IBI Corporate Finance, Carson McDowell and PwC.