We are delighted to share that our Corporate Finance Team have won Finance Dublin’s Mergers & Acquisitions SME Domestic Acquisition 2026 award.
We advised Big Red Cloud Group on the sale of their business to Ishikawa Technologies. This transaction represents a major milestone for one of Ireland’s leading providers of cloud-based accounting, payroll, and inventory software for SMEs.
Big Red Cloud started out as Big Red Book,an on-premise accounting software. It was acquired by Marc O’Dwyer in 2001 and, with the advent of cloud technology, he created Big Red Cloud in 2012, carrying on Big Red Book’s ethos of enabling small business but now as a SaaS (software-as-a-service) provider. By 2025, the platform was serving over 8,000 SMEs.
Ishikawa Technologies,a software aggregator headquartered in Dublin, acquires and enhances established business software companies in the micro and lower middle market worldwide.
In April 2025, the merger was announced, ushering in a new era for Big Red Cloud and further empowering Irish SMEs.
As part of this new chapter, Big Red Cloud’s Founder and outgoing CEO Marc O’Dwyer was happy to move on to his next adventure, while the incoming CEO, Stuart McCaul, Founder of Ishikawa Technologies, was excited to focus on delivering smarter, simpler software and support for Irish SMEs.
Commenting on the achievement, Partner Jason Bradshaw said: “It was satisfying helping founder Marc (O’Dwyer) of Big Red Cloud achieve the exit he wanted. The deal fulfilled three essential criteria that he had noted before the sale process began: he secured the desired price, ensured an immediate hand-off, and guaranteed that his team would remain intact under the new CEO,Stuart McCaul. I’m particularly pleased that my team has been given this industry recognition from Finance Dublin.”
PKF Brenson Lawlor’s Corporate Finance team is recognised as one of the Top 4 M&A teams in Ireland, as per Mergermarket and Experian. In the last few years, we have advised on an extensive list of advisory projects with our clients ranging from SME’s to large international companies and private equity firms.
