Eye on Finance
RIADA Capital Partners – Investing In Challenged & Stressed local Companies
RIADA Capital Partners might be a new name to the investment and advisory space here in Northern Ireland but the new firm’s two principals need little in the way of introduction to many in the private sector here.
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hat’s RIADA about? It’s a new independent advisor and private equity investor setting out, in its own words, to work with and invest in good companies facing financial difficulty and/or a high degree of current or future uncertainty. It’s description that covers a lot of bases. Neil Adair, one of the partners in the business, takes up the story. “We’re here to work with companies under pressure, maybe needing a financial restructuring or a turnaround
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plan,” he says. “Companies with the potential for further growth that would benefit from a fresh injection of capital. “We’re here to help business owners, directors and management teams, lenders, investors and creditors to solve what might be complex and challenging problems. At the end of the day, that means delivering some certainty to all the stakeholders of a business.” Neil Adair is a PwC-trained chartered accountant and a UK and Irish licensed insolvency practitioner with 36 years
of experience under his belt. A former partner in a leading firm of chartered accountants here, he led the corporate banking operations of an Irish bank from 1996 until 2004. He’s also a director of a number of companies and an existing and long-standing private equity investor. “So I know what it’s like to risk my own capital, to have my skin in the game,” Neil smiles. “More importantly, I like to think that I bring empathy and understanding to businesses. That probably counts for more than the
years of professional experience.” Alongside Neil Adair at RIADA Capital Partners is Gordon McElroy. A solicitor and founding partner of MKB Law in Belfast, a firm with a substantial insolvency and restructuring practice, he sits on the board of a number of NI and ROI companies advising on strategy and corporate governance. He’s also a former President of Belfast Chamber. “I’ve built up plenty of experience dealing with secured lenders in stressed situations,” says Gordon. “It’s a skill
