{"id":549872,"date":"2026-07-14T21:29:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T21:29:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/549872\/"},"modified":"2026-07-14T21:29:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T21:29:14","slug":"dcc-founder-calls-for-crh-like-independent-ambition-as-board-nears-sale-deal-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/549872\/","title":{"rendered":"DCC founder calls for \u2018CRH-like\u2019 independent ambition as board nears sale deal \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

DCC<\/a> founder Jim Flavin<\/a> has urged the board to aspire to build a company modelled as a CRH <\/a>of the global energy solutions industry, as he stepped up his campaign against a sale of the group, which is said to be nearing a deal with two US private equity firms. <\/p>\n

CRH has grown to become one of the world\u2019s largest building materials and solutions groups, with market value of about $70 billion (\u20ac61.3 billion), through decades of deal making. <\/p>\n

Flavin (83), who stepped down as executive chairman of DCC in 2008 but continues to own 3.2 per cent of its stock, said the group\u2019s board should resist the temptation to sell, double down on delivering its growth plan, and aspire to become a \u201cworld leading multi-energy solutions company\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cI believe management have done a very good job in completing the evolution of the group into an energy solutions company. If I were running DCC today I\u2019d say, \u2018Let\u2019s go for it, let\u2019s be ambitious, let\u2019s be entrepreneurial\u2019,\u201d Flavin told The Irish Times. <\/p>\n

\u201cProperly articulated, I think that would get the market\u2019s support \u2013 particularly as DCC is set to be a clearer company after the technology business is sold.\u201d <\/p>\n

DCC, led by chief executive Donal Murphy<\/a>, said on June 10th that its board was \u201cminded to recommend\u201d a \u00a35.7 billion (\u20ac6.67 billion) \u2013 or \u00a366.72 a share \u2013 proposal from US-based Energy Capital Partners and KKR<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0DCC under pressure to secure higher price despite doubts over Flavin\u2019s call for 50% moreOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

It represented a 15 per cent improvement on an initial pitch made in April that was rejected as \u201cfundamentally\u201d undervaluing the company. The bid includes the payment of a final \u00a31.47 dividend that would ordinarily be payable next week, subject to approval at DCC\u2019s annual general meeting on Thursday. <\/p>\n

The US consortium was reported by Bloomberg on Tuesday to be nearing a takeover deal with the board at the level pitched last month. They face a deadline of 5pm on Wednesday. A spokeswoman for DCC declined to comment. <\/p>\n

Flavin said that if DCC is to be sold, the board should hold out for an offer of at least \u00a3100, even if analysts only had an average price target of \u00a357.83 on the stock before news of the US consortium emerged in April. <\/p>\n

\"\"How can tech offer solutions for obesity and weight management?<\/p>\n

He estimates that the current offer on the table values the energy business at \u201conly 10.8 times\u201d expected earnings for the current year, which is \u201ca ludicrous valuation\u201d. He said that \u201ca more reasonable\u201d multiple of 16.5 times \u201cwould get you to \u00a3100 per share\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe are talking about a company that is unquestionably undervalued by the market,\u201d said Flavin. DCC\u2019s shares were trading at \u00a363.44 at midafternoon in London on Tuesday. <\/p>\n

The energy unit \u2013 which spans petrol stations in Europe and liquid gas, to distribution of bio fuels and solar panels \u2013 turned in a \u00a3554.2 million operating profit in DCC\u2019s financial year through March. The technology arm, which is currently on the market and is the last vestige of its conglomerate roots, delivered a \u00a379.9 million profit. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0DCC founder Jim Flavin blasts board for backing takeover \u2018on the cheap\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the company achieves the \u00a3830 million operating profit target they\u2019ve set out to deliver by 2030, you\u2019re talking of a business being worth well in excess of \u00a3100 a share,\u201d said Flavin. <\/p>\n

\u201cI cannot understand the about-turn of the board from the time of its excellent results presentation [on May 19th] and the decision [on June 10th] to say it is minded to back the proposal.\u201d <\/p>\n

DCC\u2019s largest shareholder, Fidelity International, came out last week against the latest proposal as failing to reflect its real value. Aviva Investors, with a 2.2 per cent stake, and 1.1 per cent shoulder Ninety One, formerly known as Investec Asset Management, subsequently said that they were not in favour of selling at the planned price.<\/p>\n

A spokeswoman for DCC said that the company \u201chas a duty to act in the best interests of its shareholders\u201d. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DCC founder Jim Flavin has urged the board to aspire to build a company modelled as a CRH…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":542504,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[72,11982,210650,61,60,230357,137507],"class_list":["post-549872","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-dcc","tag-donal-murphy","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-jim-flavin","tag-kkr"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549872","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=549872"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549872\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/542504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=549872"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=549872"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=549872"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}