Origin Enterprises, the Dublin-headquartered international agronomy services group, has today (Friday, March 31) announced the acquisition of Neo Environmental Limited.
Neo is a multi-disciplinary consultancy business that provides planning, environmental and technical advice to a range of clients, primarily in the energy and infrastructure sectors across the UK and Ireland.
The company, which has been in operation for the past 10 years, has worked on over 800 projects to date.
Origin Enterprises
Sean Coyle, chief executive of Origin Enterprises, said that the acquisition of Neo aligns with the agronomy company‘s strategy to broaden its amenity, environmental and ecological portfolio.
He also said that the acquisition would enhance Origin’s ability to deliver on its ambition of promoting sustainable land use.
“In addition to clients in the energy and infrastructure sectors, as subsidy regimes change, we expect farmers will continue to assess alternative uses for less productive agricultural land.
“Neo, in conjunction with our existing ecological specialist business Keystone Environmental, will ensure we are positioned to provide an enhanced range of consulting and advisory services.
“We are delighted to welcome Neo to the Origin Group and look forward to working with the team,” he said.
Origin Enterprises completed a €20 million share buyback programme this week.
Coyle said that there has now been “a cumulative €60 million returned to shareholders via share buybacks in the last two years”.
“We expect our near-term capital deployment will be focused on further bolt-on acquisitions, strategic capex to drive organic growth and our progressive dividend policy,” he said.
Earlier this month, Origin reported revenues of €1.18 billion for the six months to the end of January compared to corresponding results of €877.1 million for 2022.
The group, which has five key business divisions, also reported a jump in interim pre-tax profits from €7.6 million in 2022 to €13.3 million of the half-year ended January 2023.