Empteezy Group, the Livingston-based designer, manufacturer and distributor of industrial safety products and solutions focused on environmental protection, spill prevention and electric vehicle battery storage, has been sold by owner Bruce Wishart to the firm’s management team.
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The price paid for the business, which employs about 250 people, was not disclosed.
The management buy-out has been led by Empteezy chief executive David Byrne and chief financial officer Jon Hazlewood.
Chiltern Capital, which backed the deal, intends to support the team in delivering its plans to broaden Empteezy’s product and service offering and make further funding available for targeted merger and acquisition activity.
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Since being established about 36 years ago by Mr Wishart, Empteezy has grown into a pan-European operator serving blue-chip customers from sites across the UK, France, Spain, Germany, Italy and Belgium.
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In the year to October 31, 2021, Empteezy posted a pre-tax profit of £3.5m, up from £2.1m in the previous year, on the back of an increase in turnover to £44.6m from £37.4m.
Mr Wishart said: “Passing the company on to the existing management was a natural decision – the hard part was finding the right partner to assist with this.”
David Byrne said: “It has been 36 years since Bruce launched Empteezy, and the quality of people, strength of the brand and the breadth of the product range made my decision to join and steer the business a very easy and exciting one. Working very closely with Chiltern on that journey was also a very attractive proposition.”
David Butler, investment director at Chiltern Capital, said: “Bruce should be incredibly proud of the legacy that he has built, and we feel privileged to be able to support David, Jon and the rest of the management team with their plans for the next chapter. Due to the ever-increasing need for corporates to address their ESG (environmental, social and governance) responsibilities, the importance of a company like Empteezy cannot be overstated.”
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