CJ Fallon

Overview

Lonsdale invested in CJ Fallon (“CJF”) in 2013 backing a management buyout by Brian Gilsenan.  CJF was a leading publisher of school books for primary and secondary pupils in Ireland, especially in the core subjects of maths, English and Irish.

Following the investment, an acquisition was made of a publisher of school books of certain key subjects for secondary schools.  A major push was also made into providing digital school books and also providing teacher aids in both book and digital form.

Following an approach in 2015 Lonsdale decided to exit at a return of over 4x.