{"id":47477,"date":"2026-10-09T08:23:08","date_gmt":"2026-10-09T07:23:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thebusinessdesk.com\/south-west\/?p=47477"},"modified":"2026-10-09T08:23:25","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T07:23:25","slug":"family-to-sell-300m-turnover-metals-trader","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thebusinessdesk.com\/south-west\/news\/47477-family-to-sell-300m-turnover-metals-trader","title":{"rendered":"Family to sell \u00a3330m-turnover metals trader"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A family-run metals trader that has been a force in the global steel supply chain for more than 50 years is about to change hands, documents seen by TheBusinessDesk.com show.<\/p>\n<p>Derek Raphael &amp; Company, based in Cirencester, has entered into an agreement to sell the molybdenum specialist and the deal with the unnamed buyer is expected to complete this month.<\/p>\n<p>The company&#8217;s turnover fluctuates with the price of moly, but generated revenues of $451m (\u00a3330m) in 2025. Pre-tax profits came in at $9.1m (\u00a36.7m).<\/p>\n<p>It has been trading well in 2026, boosted by a 45% increase in molybdenum prices between December and June.<\/p>\n<p>The company has paid nearly $23m (\u00a317m) in dividends in the past two years.<\/p>\n<p>Derek Raphael &amp; Company was founded in 1973 by Derek Raphael after the company he worked for, Continental Ore Company, was sold.<\/p>\n<p>The business is now controlled by second-generation family members Andrew and Peter Raphael, with Andrew having been on the board for 25 years.<\/p>\n<p>The business specialises in molybdenum, a hard, heat-resistant metal that is mixed into steel to make it stronger and more resistant to corrosion and extreme temperatures. It ends up in oil and gas equipment, pipelines, power stations and aerospace.<\/p>\n<p>Most of it is traded as molybdenum oxide or as ferro-molybdenum, an alloy of iron and molybdenum added to steel in the foundry.<\/p>\n<p>TheBusinessDesk.com has contacted the company for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Exclusive: Deal set to complete within weeks, TheBusinessDesk.com can reveal<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":47479,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,120785],"coauthors":[81],"class_list":["post-47477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-deals","category-international","tag-gloucestershire","tag-top-story"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Family to sell Derek Raphael &amp; 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