Specialist rubber engineering firm continues acquisition drive

A Shropshire-based specialist rubber engineering firm has continued its acquisition drive with the purchase of Lancashire-based Techmould, a specialist in vacuum moulding.

The deal follows DKL Rubber’s acquisition in 2017 of Medcraft Bryden.

Established for over 30 years, DKL Rubber has been on a focused acquisition drive for the past five years and with the Medcraft Bryden business fully imbedded, director Robert Oakes began looking to further bolster the business.

He said: “Techmould was a business that we’d been aware of for a while.  It has been very well managed and the closer we looked at it, the clearer it became that this could be a good fit for our own growing team.  When we heard that the owners might be open to a sale, we started our discussions.

“The acquisition of Techmould will enable us to expand our overall offer to include both vacuum moulding and plastic moulding.  We’ll also be able to pursue further contracts where specialist tool making equipment is required.”

With the Techmould business becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of DKL Rubber, the combined workforce has grown from 14 to 23.

The Techmould deal and Medcraft Bryden transaction were handles by Stuart Rea of FBC Manby Bowdler’s corporate team.

Rea, partner and overall head of FBC Manby Bowdler’s corporate team in Shropshire, said: “Having supported Robert and his team on a previous acquisition, it has been a pleasure to see the business continue to grow, not least of all during a time of such heightened economic uncertainty.

“Their approach to acquiring other businesses is to be admired.  They not only consider the complimentary attributes of the team, but importantly remain mindful of the personalities involved in such transactions and this in itself makes them a pleasure to support.”