From left: Dawn Walsh, Kernel Capital and Michael Brophy, Certification Europe. Image: Kernel Capital
The Irish certification and training firm, which is backed by Kernel Capital and Bank of Ireland, has been sold to UK-based Amtivo Group.
Today (23 March), Certification Europe announced that it has been acquired by UK-based professional services firm Amtivo Group.
Founded in 1999, Certification Europe is a business that works with organisations around the world to achieve ISO certification, while providing training on a variety of management systems, including quality management, health and safety management, energy management and information security.
The Dublin-headquartered business has been backed by Kernel Capital, Bank of Ireland, Enterprise Ireland, the University of Limerick Foundation and the Galway University Foundation.
Certification Europe said that the acquisition “establishes an impressive international footprint for the Amtivo Group in key markets”, as the Irish company performs more than 10,000 assessments annually for its customers, including microenterprises, multinationals, government departments and state bodies.
Certification Europe’s Dublin base is located at Park West Business Park. The firm also has offices in Japan, Italy and the UK.
The acquisition
Through the Bank of Ireland Seed and Early Stage Equity Fund, Kernel Capital first invested in Certification Europe in November 2014. Kernel Capital said that the deal “delivers a significant multiple return” for investors in Certification Europe.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed but, according to Independent.ie, it is understood that Amtivo paid €6m to acquire the Irish company.
Michael Brophy, CEO of Certification Europe, said: “Kernel Capital have supported us in building a market-leading ISO certification, training and inspection business, resulting in a successful trade sale to the Amtivo Group.
“From our base in Dublin, we will bring Amtivo access to several core markets, plus genuine leadership, skillset and knowledge in the key area of IT and data security.
“We look forward to combining this with Amtivo’s unique go-to-market approach and technology, which will help us provide an even better and wider variety of services to our customers and provides us with an innovative and market-leading approach to swiftly scaling our international operations.”
