Innopharma is Ireland’s leading provider of higher and further education, focused on up-skilling and re-skilling individuals to enter or progress within the pharmaceutical, medtech and food & beverage manufacturing sectors. It is also a provider of highly trained, contract technical resources to client companies within the pharmaceutical and medtech industries.
Chris Walsh, who led the deal for MML Ireland, said:
“Innopharma has a clear reputation in supporting critical skills development that are crucial to Ireland’s FDI manufacturing strategy. Developing the national pool of skilled talent is mission critical for continued investment in Ireland. MML has just recently celebrated its 10-year anniversary in Ireland and this deal marks our twentieth primary investment. We have been fortunate enough to back some exceptional companies to help them on their growth journey. Orla and Luke are very well-respected leaders in their field. We are delighted to partner with them, with Ian Jones, with DunPort Capital Management and the whole Innopharma team for the next phase of its development.”
Established in Dublin in 2009, Innopharma is committed to developing high-tech manufacturing talent. Its Education Division upskills and reskills over 1,700 learners annually. The Education Division currently offers a range of programmes that are mapped according to the National Framework of Qualifications from Level 6 up to Level 9, accredited micro-credentials, and short, industry focused training which can be tailored for company training needs. Innopharma collaborates with a number of important academic partners including Technological University Dublin and Griffith College and achieved its own QQI accreditation in 2020. Innopharma is the largest private life science higher education institution in Ireland with courses being delivered nationwide across Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Galway. It is headquartered in Sandyford, Dublin and employs 130 people. The business expects to deliver revenue of c. €15 million across its two divisions, Education and Technical Services, in the year to 30 June 2023.
Kevin Delaney, VP for Business Development at Innopharma, said:
“The biopharma and advanced manufacturing sectors are critical to Ireland’s growth economy. Over the past fifteen years, Innopharma has been pivotal in supplying the sector with highly skilled graduates and with the drive towards the digital and green agendas, we continue to ensure that our education and training programmes are current and future focussed. We are confident that this investment with MML Ireland will leverage our ability to drive continuous growth in industry focussed education.”
Dr Ian Jones, Founder, Innopharma commented:
“Given the skills required to support advanced manufacturing both in Ireland and internationally and the commitment of governments to support lifelong learning, the up-skilling and re-skilling education sector continues to expand apace. This creates market opportunities for well positioned and invested businesses, such as Innopharma. The business has an ambitious plan to grow our learners and industry base significantly over the next four years, with our team doubling to over 260 employees. With its experience of working with, and helping to grow, dynamic scaling businesses, MML Ireland is the perfect partner for the next stage of our journey.”
Orla Callan, Registrar and Director of Innopharma Education, added:
“In MML Ireland, Innopharma has been able to secure an investor with vision and similar ambition to that we have for our business. We have a strong and dedicated team of people at Innopharma and this new partnership gives us the platform for significant growth – benefitting our learners.”
Innopharma’s Technical Services Division was launched in 2017. Led by Luke Kiernan, it works closely with large multinational pharmaceutical and med-tech companies in Ireland. Innopharma Technical Services acts as a contracting business for qualified Science and Engineering graduates seeking specific niche technical roles in high tech manufacturing. The division selects and trains its technical contractors to the highest regulatory standards with a view to providing its pharmaceutical and medtech clients with flexible access to specialist technical skills.
Luke Kiernan, Managing Director of Technical Services, Innopharma, said:
“We are very pleased to have teamed up with MML Ireland on this opportunity. We feel they are the right partner to complement the existing team and look forward to working with them to continue our Irish and international growth.”
The MML investment team included Neil McGowan, Partner and Co-Head of Investments, Chris Walsh, Investment Director, Muireann MacAuliffe Investment Associate and Emma Jones, Investment Analyst.
Mazars Corporate Finance provided corporate finance advice to the shareholders of Innopharma. McCann Fitzgerald acted as legal adviser to MML Ireland, while Philip Lee acted for Innopharma. BDO provided financial and tax due diligence whilst KPMG carried out a commercial and strategic review for the Group.
The investment is subject to approval from the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC).
