The BDO Development Capital Fund, has invested €3m in Obelisk Group, a specialist in service provision to the telecommunications and utilities sectors, to drive further expansion in South Africa and the UK.

Andrew Bourg, Investment Director of the BDO Development Capital Fund, said: “The Obelisk Group is a great example of the sort of best-in-class Irish companies that Development Capital looks to support.”

“It has grown, profitably over a 20-year period and has built a strong reputation and team in a range of complementary markets. It is now poised for exceptional growth with strong macro-economic conditions and positive investment climates in large markets outside of Ireland. We are delighted to be backing the Obelisk team and look forward to assisting them to at least double Obelisk in size over the next 5 years,” he said.

Obelisk Group a privately owned company, established in 1996 in Cavan, Ireland.

Since then it has delivered approximately 40% of the sector’s infrastructure.

Its core activity is in providing solutions and resources to industry across telecommunications, power transmission and distribution, renewable energy and tower infrastructure.

The company expanded into power infrastructure in 2008, followed by the UK in 2009 and South Africa in 2010.

The Obelisk Group now comprises 250 highly trained and experienced engineers and generates annual revenues in excess of €20m with export revenues currently accounting for 40% of the Group’s revenues.

In South Africa, the Obelisk Group has developed reputation for quality delivery and is strongly positioned to demonstrate its abilities in 4G and telecommunications infrastructure rollout as well as rapid increase in renewable energy investment.

The investment is backed by matching bank funding.

The combined €6m investment will enable the Obelisk Group to take advantage of the investment in utilities to meet the expansion demands of new communication technology and renewable energy generation.

Declan O’Neill, Obelisk Group CEO, welcomed the investment: “The global markets for telecommunications and power infrastructure are set for exponential growth and we believe Obelisk has the expertise and experience, coupled with lots of hard work and commitment, to capture a significant part of this growth.

“We are looking forward to working with Development Capital to show how Irish entrepreneurs can compete and succeed on the world stage.”

The €75m BDO Development Capital Fund provides development and growth capital for established, mid-sized and profitable companies to assist them to achieve and accelerate their export-led growth plans.