Blackstone confirms deal for majority stake in Barry English’s Winthrop Technologies

The deal is understood to value the business at around €800. Winthrop was founded in the 1990s by UCD trained engineer Barry English.

The Irish firm’s management will remain in situ following the investment and it will continue to trade under its own name.

The remainder of the shares not being bought by Blackstone will be held between the existing shareholders; founder, Barry English; Group CEO, Anne Dooley; and Managing Director, Bernard Keane.

Blackstone is best known on Ireland for buying businesses including Eir and the former Burlington Hotel at knock down prices after the global financial crisis. Such distressed investing is only one part of its business and a Winthrop deal would help build scale in a market where it paid $10bn three years ago for QTS, another data centre business.

Winthrop Technologies was founded by UCD trained engineer Barry English, who remained a director and advisor as well as majority shareholder in the business ahead of the sale.

He worked with the Tipperary based global engineering business MF Kents in the late 1980s mostly abroad before returning to Ireland established Winthrop in 1995.

The business in recent years it has shifted to specialise fully in construction of data centres across Europe, producing so called ‘turn-key’ projects for multinational clients, and was previously involved in projects in areas like life sciences and pharmaceutics.

Winthrop operates across nine Europe countries and last year commenced operations in Belgium. The business employs around 750 people and has been in expansion mode, announcing hundreds of new roles last year.

Winthrop's most recently filed financial accounts show pre-tax profits of €86.17m. Revenues topped €1bn for the first time in the 12 months to April 2023.

In a statement confirming the deal the companies said the partnership will accelerate Winthrop Technologies’ growth trajectory, allowing it to capitalise on the ongoing demand for data centres, the critical infrastructure behind the digital economy.

"The exponential growth in data driven by the AI revolution and increasing cloud adoption are two major trends powering this explosive growth,” it said.

Winthrop sale could lift Barry English’s personal fortune to more than €500m

Anne Dooley, Winthrop Technologies Group CEO, said: "The partnership with Blackstone marks a new era of growth for Winthrop Technologies. This is an investment in the company’s leadership, and our team at all levels, who have achieved our strong current market position and will continue to drive Winthrop Technologies into its next phase. Together with Managing Director Bernard Keane, and our senior management team, we look forward to working with the Blackstone team to showcase our best-in-class delivery.”