Chief executive Eamonn Rothwell is driving a €1.2bn (US$1.38bn) management buyout of Irish Continental Group (ICG), the ferries operator that runs Irish Ferries. The bid values saddle ownership at €8 a share, a 28 % premium to Friday’s close, and the independent board, advised by PJT Partners, will recommend the deal to shareholders.

Infrastructure financing sits at the heart of the transaction. The buyout team will fund the deal partly with €455m of preferred equity issued to Black Rock’s Global Infrastructure Partners, while BNP Paribas and Banco Santander will arrange €798m of loans, with Goodbody advising the bidders. This blend of sponsor equity and leverage reflects infrastructure investors’ appetite for essential‑service assets with durable cash flows.

Inside‑outside alignment is a feature of the deal. Eamonn Rothwell and other senior managers, who own about 23.7 % of ICG, plan to cash in roughly a third of their holdings for €90m, rolling the remainder into the acquisition vehicle. The other executives involved are David Ledwidge, Andrew Sheen, and Declan Freeman.

The offer follows Rothwell’s earlier 2007 buyout attempt, which stalled amid a takeover battle involving Liam Carroll, One51 and Doyle Shipping. The current bid arrives amid a wave of take‑private activity, with other Irish firms such as PT SB and DCC facing high‑profile bids, underscoring the shift of private capital into the Irish public‑market M&A arena.