"We're genuinely hoping to double the size of Champion Sports. We'd expect to spend up to 20m and maybe slightly more, " said John Quinn, managing director of PCP One. Quinn, whose background is in corporate finance with Merrion Capital and Bank Of Ireland, assembled the consortium.

He declined to name the other backers. However, it is understood that McNamara and his long time associates David Courtney and Bernard Doyle are the other members of the consortium, which paid 60m for Champion last week. Low-key retailer and property developer Paddy McKillen and his partner Paul McGlade are the two biggest beneficiaries of the sale. Each had a 45% of Champion Sports Group, according to documents filed with the Companies' Office.

The remaining 10% is held by the chain's managing director Liam Cunningham.

Cunningham, head buyer Jim Colfer, operations director Joe Stone and head of finance Kristian Murphy will stay on with Champion to lead the expansion. PCP had been keen to retain their expertise, according to Quinn, especiallly since the company has posted sales growth of more than 20% over the last two years. "Naturally there is an earnout, as you see in most deals these days, " he said.

The company is forecasting sales of between 65m and 70m this year. It had sales of 42m in 2004, according to the most recent set of accounts filed by the company, and made a pre-tax profit of just under 4.2m.

Anglo Irish Bank provided debt to finance the acquisition which Quinn said had been accomplished with a "conservative mix of debt and equity". He would not comment on the specifics of the deal.

Quinn said Champion was an attractive proposition for PCP because it was a "very leverageable play" and had strong prospects for growth in a buoyant retail market.

"Champion has 17 stores but it's very much a national brand. We have limited exposure to Munster, nothing in Kilkenny, Waterford, Galway.

They're really obvious areas. . .

We honestly believe 15 or 16 shops is very, very possible, " he said.

Champion will look to secure outlets in both highstreet locations and shopping centres and Quinn said that while the company's preference is to grow organically it would not rule out making acquisitions if necessary.