Senior directors lead MBO at Sligo engineering firm LotusWorks

15 Oct 2018

From left: Gerard Sproule, Emer Conroy, Fergal Broder and Mark Butler. Image: LotusWorks

LotusWorks to focus on growth in semiconductor, medtech, automotive and data centre sectors as MBO is completed.

Long-established Irish technical and engineering company LotusWorks has been acquired in a management buyout (MBO) by four senior executives.

The MBO team that has acquired LotusWorks includes: James Casey, operations director; Gerard Sproule, financial director; Mark Butler, human resources director; and Emer Conroy, marketing director. The value of the sale is not being disclosed.

‘We had always hoped that we would have a team within the company which would be capable of taking LotusWorks to its next stage’
– FERGAL BRODER

LotusWorks was founded by Fergal Broder in 1989 in Sligo. Tom Cafferkey, chief operations officer and shareholder, who has been with the company 23 years, will step back from the business at the end of the year.

LotusWorks has experienced substantial growth over the last four years and has an annual turnover of €50m. The company employs 520 full-time staff in Europe and the US.

The next level

“We had always hoped that we would have a team within the company which would be capable of taking LotusWorks to its next stage,” Broder said. “This team’s significant collective experience and their personal commitment to the business gives us great confidence that we will see the business go from strength to strength.”

The new ownership team plans to continue to increase the technical and engineering capability of the organisation in sectors such as semiconductors, medtech, automotive and data centres.

“The management team is looking forward to continuing the LotusWorks success story and to accelerating the growth of the business, while retaining excellent customer service levels and providing a great work environment for all our staff,” said Casey on behalf of the MBO team. “It’ll be very much business as usual.

“LotusWorks is recognised by large manufacturers as the go-to company when they need to outsource specific engineering work scopes. We look forward to enhancing that reputation and continuing to provide meaningful, interesting work for our skilled workforce here in Europe and North America.”

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com