An Irish construction firm has announced an investor-backed management buyout (MBO).

Walls Construction has been acquired by a new holding company controlled by the existing management team and private investors.

The acquisition includes the company's headquarters building in Dublin and Munster regional office in Cork.

The investors from the management team are the Directors of Walls Construction, Willie White, Joe McGillycuddy, John Cahill, Adrian Corcoran, Frank Kelly and Eugene O'Shea. They are backed by a group of private investors, Gerard O'Shea, John Collins, Gerry Harrington and Peter Boylan.

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A key second participant is an investment vehicle, headed by Dr Joe Walls and Aidan Walls, representing members of the Walls family not involved in the previous executive of PJ Walls Holdings. The MBO team and investors were advised by Deloitte, Eversheds and Mason Hayes & Curran.

Speaking about the announcement, Eugene O'Shea Managing Director of Walls Construction, said: "This is a time of opportunity and the investor backed MBO puts Walls Construction in a strong position to benefit from the upturn in construction.

"With confidence returning to the Irish construction sector, our experienced team of construction professionals, which has remained intact throughout the downturn, is ready to deliver key public and private sector projects. With the backing of our investors and the commitment of our management and staff, we are confident that Walls Construction will continue to perform strongly.

"Turnover in 2014 was €84 million and projections based on the current schedule of projects indicate a minimum turnover of €100 million this year, rising to €125 million in 2016."

(CD/JP)