Keep the Red Flag flying

While I was in Ireland last week it was reported that Dublin-based Red Flag Consulting had been sold with an anticipated payout of €33m to founder Karl Brophy.

According to the Irish Times:

While the sum paid for the Irish business has not been disclosed, industry sources put the value of the deal at about €45 million … Mr Brophy owns 75 per cent of the firm, indicating a payout for him of just more than €33 million.

I don't suppose many (if any) of you will have heard of the company but let me disclose my interest in this story.

Red Flag was founded in Ireland in 2013. Within a year I was introduced to the company through a mutual acquaintance, and that led me to visit their modest office in Dublin where, at that time, they employed no more than four or five people.

Today, it's reported that Red Flag has 65 staff, offices in Dublin, Brussels, Cape Town, London, and Washington DC, and clients including Diageo, Google, and Coca-Cola.

Meanwhile:

Séamus Conboy, who is head of Europe at Red Flag, owns 5.8 per cent of the company and stands to earn about €2.6 million from the sale.

Would that be the same Séamus Conboy I had coffee with ten years ago?

And there's more:

It is understood that a seven-figure sum will be paid to employees who don’t hold shares in the company, by way of a completion bonus.

How lovely.

To be clear, my brief acquaintance with Karl Brophy and Séamus Conboy can be measured in minutes rather than years.

Nevertheless I love success stories like that and I can only congratulate them all on their windfall. Richly deserved!