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# gaeltacht deal
Galway company sells for €170m
Fintrax founder Gerard Barry and his family will make €119m in biggest business deal in Gaeltacht history.
GALWAY-BASED FINANCIAL payments company Fintrax Group Holdings has been sold for €170m.
The company, which is based in the Gaeltacht village of Baile na hAbhann, was bought by the company’s management team in a deal funded by private equity fund Exponent Private Equity.
Company founder Gerard Barry and his family will net €119m, in a deal which will see him cut his ties with the company. Company turnover is €85m, and it has little or no debt.
Founded in 1985, Fintrax has developed into the world’s second largest processor of tourist VAT refunds on behalf of retailers and governments. Servicing over 80,000 retailers worldwide, it completed 3.7 million of these transactions last year under the Premier Tax Free brand. Barry came up with the idea in 1985, when he first launched his company at Shannon airport.
“This investment will propel Fintrax on to the next stage of our plan for growth and development,” said Catriona O’Farrell, chief executive of Fintrax.
Employing over 400 people, Fintrax will remain head-quartered in its Connemara base in Galway.
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