Big Datalex shareholders Nick Furlong and Sean O’Driscoll have joined its largest investor, Dermot Desmond, in providing €6 million of loans to the travel retail software company for airlines.
The group secured and drew down a €4 million loan from Mr Desmond’s Tireragh vehicle a the end of September, its interim report for 2025 has confirmed. The company said that Mr Furlong’s Pageant Investments and Mr O’Driscoll’s Roaring Waters Capital vehicles each committed €1 million of loans to Datalex.
Filings with the Companies Registration Office confirm that the two fresh loans have been committed, with the facilities secured by first fixed charges over Datalex’s physical assets, intellectual property and investments.
It is understood that the facilities carry an annual interest rate of 16 per cent, slightly lower than the 18 per cent attached to a previous Desmond loan that was repaid last year.
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Datalex is 49 per cent owned by the billionaire. The other two businessmen own close to 30 per cent between them.
Company observers said that small investors still in Datalex will likely take comfort from the fact that Mr Furlong and Mr O’Driscoll not only hold a blocking shareholding in the company, but also control a sizeable portion of its debt, providing a potential counterbalance to Mr Desmond’s dominant positions.
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The hope would be that Datalex will be able to refinance the loans – at a lower rate – with a bank over the near to medium term, if a fledgling turnaround in its financial performance continues in the first half of the year.
Datalex reported in August that revenues increased by 9 per cent year-on-year to $14.5 million (€12.6 million) in the first half, while losses at earnings before interest, tax depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) level narrowed by two-thirds to $600,000.
Group chief executive Jonathan Rockett said in the interim report, signed off on last week, that trading for the full year “remains on track with expectations”.
“We are well-positioned to deliver sustainable revenue growth and return to full-year Ebitda profitability,” he said.
Datalax raised €50 million of equity in share sales in 2021 and 2024, largely to repay previous Tireragh loans. However, Mr Desmond was the main subscriber to the equity in both instances, resulting in his shareholding rising to 49 per cent.
The 2021 and 2024 equity raises were carried out at a steep discount to what analysts estimated to be Datalex’s intrinsic value. Market observers attributed some of the discount to concerns about the company’s repeated reliance on high-cost loans from Mr Desmond.
