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Rutland manufacturing company buys competitor out of administration
Brian Hamblin from Chantrey Vellacott DFK with Linecross chairman and financial director David Austin and managing director Stuart Fry
A manufacturing company in Rutland has completed a deal to buy a competitor out of administration and secure more than 100 jobs.
Linecross, which makes engineered thermoformed and polyurethane components, has bought BI Composites in Staffordshire for an undisclosed sum.
Joint-administrators Brian Hamblin, Craig Povey and Kevin Murphy from national accountancy firm and corporate recovery specialists Chantrey Vellacott DFK had been running the business since November while they managed the sale.
Mr Hamblin said the administrators were to have been able to tell the 120 employees their jobs had been secured before the Christmas break.
Linecross has been established for 40 years and is based on a five-acre site in Station Road, South Luffenham, where it employs about 180 people.
The company had a turnover of £15m last year and it expects that to grow to about £23m following the acquisition.
BI Composites is a leading manufacturer and distributor of moulded components made from composite materials and operates from sites in Halesowen and Cannock.
Linecross managing director Stuart Fry said the business had grown steadily since a management buyout in 2003 and the acquisition of BI Composites, which has been renamed Linecross Composites, fits in with the firm’s long-term plans.
Mr Fry said: “We are delighted to have completed the deal to buy BI Composites and with it safeguard the future of a significant number of jobs.
“Linecross and BI Composites are both innovative and creative companies which share very similar production processes and customer bases, such as working with the likes of Bentley and JCB, and we’re excited to be joining the two together.
“We have kept a strong balance sheet and the deal fits in well with our long-term expansion strategy.”
Mr Hamblin, partner at Chantrey Vellacott DFK, which has offices on Grove Business Park, Leicester said there was a host of parties interested in taking over BI Composites.
He said: “Just like BI Composites, Linecross has a strong reputation as one of the leading manufacturers in the sector under the leadership of Stuart Fry, chairman David Austin and the rest of the management team the Composites business should grow. Once a deal had been accepted there was a commitment by both parties to complete the deal quickly.
“With the help of lawyers Helen Readett and Sam Payne from SGH Martineau for the administrators and Andrew Heeler, from Hegarty LLP for the buyers, the legal work was completed within an impressive 36 hours.”
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