Family-owned manufacturer Morrells snapped up
STOCKPORT manufacturer FT Morrell, a leading manufacturer of wood finishing products, has been sold to US-based RPM International.
Morrells holds a Royal Warrant and is the UK’s largest manufacturer and distributor of high performance industrial wood finishes and application equipment. In the year to December 2013 it had sales of more than £18m and employed more than 130 people.
RPM has purchased the business through its RPM2 Group for an undisclosed sum.
Founded in 1902, four generations of the Morrell family had worked in the business.
Morrells has a manufacturing facility at the Wellington Works, Woodley, Stockport and distributes from a centre in Nottingham.
RPM owns subsidiaries that manufacture and market high-performance coatings, sealants and specialty chemicals, primarily for maintenance and improvement applications. It employs more than 12,000 people worldwide and operates 94 manufacturing facilities in 24 countries.
Its products are sold in approximately 160 countries and territories.
Frank C Sullivan, RPM chairman and chief executive officer, said: “With a strong management team, led by chief executives Scott Drayton and Tony O’Connor, who will stay on to run the business, a portfolio of advanced technologies and a customer-centric distribution strategy, Morrells is an excellent fit within our Wood Finishes Group.
“We intend to accelerate Morrells’ growth by leveraging its coatings technologies across the RPM network.”
RPM made an unsolicited approached to Morrells which prompted the family to conclude it was an appropriate time to consider a sale. It appointed Catalyst to advise them through the sale process.
Richard Sanders, partner at Catalyst Corporate Finance which advised the vendors, said: “This deal represents another successful example of our experience selling family businesses, working in the industrial sector and undertaking cross border M&A with US trade acquirers.
“Achieving this outcome for business with a fragmented shareholder base, relatively complex tax, structuring and environmental matters was a particularly rewarding aspect to this transaction.”
