A managing director of the company purchasing Balcas says that there will be “no change” in regards to staffing of the business.

It was announced last week that Glennon Brothers – a third-generation family timber processing business – has entered into an agreement with SHV Energy to purchase Balcas Ltd, subject to approval from the Competition and Markets Authority in the UK, and the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission in Ireland. The official announcement was made upon signing on Monday, May 17.

Decision

Speaking to The Impartial Reporter on Wednesday, Mike Glennon (pictured right) , who is joint managing director of Glennon Brothers with Pat Glennon, explained that although the sale has been agreed between Glennon Brothers and SHV Energy, it could be two to three months before a decision is made by the competitions authorities either side of the Border.

“The process is as follows, you reach an agreement between the buyer and the seller, you tie down that agreement and then you submit to the competitions authority so that’s why the notification was clear from us that we have reached an agreement with the seller SHV Energy to buy Balcas and the deal is subject to both the Competition and Markets Authority in the UK, and the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission in Ireland.”

“We won’t be able to call the timeframe, this is their process but in general they talk about a minimum of 40 working days which is two months. That’s the position prior to Covid-19, if that has an impact on that, I don’t really know but it’s definitely no quicker than that. In our mind’s eye we’re talking about a two to three months scenario.

“But once again we won’t influence that, it will be their decision,” said Mr. Glennon.

When asked by this newspaper what their immediate plans are for Balcas following the completion of the purchase, Mr. Glennon stressed that both businesses are “very good and solid” and that this is “not an emergency fix” of either side: “This is two businesses coming together to grow and develop, and there are areas that each company are operating in that the other isn’t operating in.

Further invest

“There are areas that are complementary to both sides and there is no overlap whatsoever and we both focus on different parts of the market so we see this as a coming together as a business that allows us to have a critical mass to further invest in research and development, [to] look at new product development, that’s the primary driver for us in this regard.”

When asked about staffing of Balcas following the acquisition, Mr. Glennon commented: “Our immediate thought is no change, both businesses are good businesses, there’s nothing wrong with either business so it really is how do we grow from here, that’ll be the question on our mind. And obviously we’ve reached an agreement with the owners from Balcas, Balcas and Glennon Brothers had traditionally been competitors.

“The first part of the phase will be to properly understand each other and understand the uniqueness of each of the businesses. It’s really important to point out that they are both good businesses, it’s not that one is in trouble and one is helping the other, they are both good businesses that are well positioned to grow and how can we use that coming together to invest in research and development in new product technology and capitalise on this whole sustainability piece,” he told this newspaper.