GROWTH CAPITAL
Redfaire Secures €13m BGF Investment to Accelerate International Expansion
The Irish enterprise software services group has raised minority growth capital to fund cross-border expansion and a continuing acquisition programme, days after buying eKal Solutions.
Redfaire, a Limerick-headquartered enterprise resource planning (ERP) and cloud services provider, has secured a €13 million minority investment from growth capital investor BGF. The company said the capital will fund international expansion, further development of its service lines and a continuing acquisition programme. BGF takes a minority shareholding; the founders retain control of the business.
The investment follows Redfaire's acquisition of eKal Solutions, which the company said adds capability across human capital management, enterprise performance management, financials and supply chain management. Alongside the funding, Redfaire has appointed Glenn Timms as non-executive chair through BGF's talent network. Timms is a former PwC corporate finance partner and previously served as chief executive of IESA; he chairs the cloud ERP consultancy NoBlue2.
What the capital will support
Founded in 2003, Redfaire advises enterprise customers modernising ERP estates and moving to cloud and hybrid deployments, providing consulting, implementation, managed services and application support. It specialises in Oracle's JD Edwards ERP software and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, and is a founding partner of Redfaire International, a network of JD Edwards consulting partners operating across 23 countries.
The business now employs more than 200 people and serves large corporate customers running complex, mission-critical systems, with operations in Ireland, the United Kingdom, mainland Europe and North America. Brian McInerney, chief executive and co-founder, said the investment recognises the company's focus on complex ERP work and allows it to accelerate international expansion while broadening its capabilities.
MJ Murphy, an investor at BGF, said the opportunity now is to scale the business internationally both organically and through acquisition, supported by capital, strategic guidance and access to BGF's value creation platform.
Why it matters for private capital
BGF is a minority, non-control growth investor active across the United Kingdom and Ireland, backed in Ireland by the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, Bank of Ireland, AIB and Ulster Bank. Its model — initial cheques in the low tens of millions in exchange for a minority stake, with follow-on capacity — sits between traditional venture capital and control buyouts, a segment that has drawn increasing interest from family offices seeking exposure to founder-led businesses without the leverage profile of larger private equity.
Enterprise software services businesses of Redfaire's type — recurring managed services revenue, embedded customer relationships and a fragmented supplier base amenable to consolidation — have been a consistent target for buy-and-build strategies. The transaction is a further example of that thesis being funded through minority structures rather than outright acquisition.