Industrial equipment supplier bought in £5m deal

Gloucester industrial equipment supplier Sempre Group has been bought in a deal worth up to £5.5m by smart manufacturing specialist Oxford Metrics.

Sempre is a measurement specialist solving manufacturing challenges across multiple industries.

Sempre founder Mike John said: “As part of Oxford Metrics, Sempre will have access, advice and the resources to scale and expand to new markets and geographies.

“One of our key criteria for exiting the business was ensuring we found the right home to take Sempre to the next level.”

Sempre generated £6.5m revenues and a £0.7m pre-tax profit last year, and is confident it will deliver “a further improvement” in 2024’s results.

Nearly three-quarters of its revenues are from the sale of metrology solutions, with the remainder from services.

Imogen O’Connor, chief executive of stock market-listed Oxford Metrics, added: “Oxford Metrics first established a foothold in the smart manufacturing market with our Industrial Vision Systems (IVS) acquisition and we said we would build out our presence via a targeted M&A programme.

“Today’s acquisition of Sempre strengthens our smart manufacturing division, it has synergies with IVS and also brings us a deep pool of industry knowledge, an established sales and services organisation plus access to new customers, partners and products, taking us into new markets.”

The deal will see £5.0m paid in cash, with an earnout of up to £0.5m.