£62m buyout secures future of thriving Lancaster firm

A Lancaster firm which is a leading manufacturer and distributor of self-adhesive sign vinyl and digital print media has announced a £62million buyout which has helped secure its future.

Metamark (UK) Limited is has completed the management buyout of the business from its founder shareholders, Mark Bateson and Mike Stuart.

The management team was led by Paul French and backed by Primary Capital, one of the UK’s leading mid-market private equity firms.

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Metamark has continued to outperform the market as the leading manufacturer and distributor of self-adhesive sign vinyl and digital print media in UK, Europe and around the world, the management buyout allows this strategy to be accelerated as the company looks to further invest in plant and equipment at both the Lancaster and Woking sites while increasing the UK market share and looking for further international expansion opportunities.

The buyout was led by Paul French, Ian Simister and the senior management team at Metamark who have led the business for the last five years since the original owners backed away from the day to day operations.

In this time the management team have implemented various projects in conjunction with the board resulting in a doubling revenue and profits.

Mark Bateson said: “After many years of building the company based in an entrepreneurial style and culture it is important to us that this legacy prevails in the hands of a proven management team in terms of both capability and style, being working together and supporting the brand to the benefit of our customers, staff and suppliers. We are delighted to have found an investment partner in Primary who share our values.”

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Paul French, CEO of Metamark, said: “We’re looking to the future with great optimism and with the benefit of having a business that’s among our industry’s most respected brands built on very solid fundamentals behind us.

“We have some very exciting plans for Metamark. They will ensure that our growth continues on the upward trajectory we’ve established both in the UK and internationally.

“We have a planned programme of further investment in capital plant to strengthen our manufacturing and conversion and we’ll be investing in people too so we can strengthen our team and reinforce our international stature.

“We’re taking our model to new markets too. Our technical leadership and service led ethics mean we can achieve scale in markets such as construction while growing opportunities in our established channels with new, product-led applications.”

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Metamark’s headquarters are in Lancaster, in corporate offices co-located with its materials manufacturing and conversion facilities.

The firm’s UK-based materials distribution facility is located in Woking, where UK based customers’ orders are fulfilled, while its international business is conducted from Lancaster and serves the needs of distribution partners worldwide.

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