The Dublin office will be led by Jacqueline Flynn
Private equity fund Exponent has established an office in Dublin.
The opening of the office follows a decision by the London-headquartered firm to utilise the newly revised Investment Limited Partnership structure in Ireland.
Exponent has received approval from the Central Bank for its Irish business to operate as an alternative investment fund manager.
The Dublin office will also support the firm’s investment activity in Ireland.
Exponent has invested more than €1bn in 12 Irish-owned or Irish-based businesses in the past decade.
These include five platform and seven bolt-on acquisitions since 2012.
The new Dublin base will led by Jacqueline Flynn. Ms Flynn will join Exponent as its operations director and most recently served as chief operating officer for BlackRock’s Irish operations.
Investment activity will be led by Exponent partner David McGovern, who is responsible for investing here alongside other senior members of the team.
Other members of the firm’s finance and investor relations functions will relocate to the Dublin city office, while Exponent plans to add more staff across functions.
“Ireland is a compelling environment to invest the resources of our firm and opening an office in Dublin is a natural and exciting step for our business,” Mr McGovern said.
“We are resolute in our commitment to Ireland and look forward to expanding the team in the years to come as we continue our investing journey in the Irish market,” he added.
Exponent also has an office in Amsterdam. Now investing from its fourth fund, the firm has raised more than €3bn to date. It focuses on corporate carve-outs and acquiring founder-led businesses.
Waste and environmental services company Enva, which was acquired by Exponent in 2017, was sold in June to US private equity firm I Squared Capital. Enva was formerly a part of DCC’s Environmental division.
Exponent said the sale of Enva delivered a near 4x return for investors.
