A Gloucester publisher which sells 50 million greetings cards each year has acquired a major competitor with the backing of Lloyds TSB.
Paper House Group, which is based in 38,000 sq ft premises at Waterwells Business Park, has bought the greetings card division of London-based The Medici Society for a substantial undisclosed sum, in a move which will take annual turnover to £12 million.
Following the transaction, the company has boosted its Gloucester headcount from 95 to 120 and taken an additional 5,000 sq ft of warehouse space locally to store stock ahead of Christmas.
Established in 1980, Paper House Group is the UK’s largest independent card publisher, designing cards for national retailers including WH Smith and Wyevale Garden Centres as well as smaller independents.
The acquisition has been supported by Paper House Group’s banking partner of 15 years, Lloyds TSB Commercial, which will provide day to day banking services for the enlarged company.
The bank also introduced management to asset based lending (ABL) specialist Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance, which devised a package of facilities to fund the acquisition and to support working capital.
The business uses four UK based printers to manufacture its products, including Alpha Colour Printers which is also based in Gloucester.
Steve Gallagher, financial director of Paper House Group, said: “This deal was an opportunity to accelerate our growth by acquiring a complementary firm and marks an important chapter in our business’ long-term development.
“In order to ensure we maintain our high standards of customer service, we’ve invested in bringing on additional employees and we are committed to operating the enlarged company from our existing base in Gloucester.
“Lloyds TSB Commercial’s support gave us the confidence to take this next step. They took the time to understand our needs and developed a package that ensured we had sufficient working capital going forward.”
Guy Webster, Regional Manager at Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance, said: “With the economic climate becoming increasingly challenging for many UK firms, Paper House Group has taken a proactive approach and acquired a highly complementary firm in order to bolster its offering and enlarge its customer base.
“Our lending is in place to ensure the company’s cash flow is supported both over the busy Christmas period and beyond, and can be scaled up the match the business’ requirements as it continues to grow.”
John Quinn, Relationship Director at Lloyds TSB Commercial, Gloucester, said: “Paper House Group’s management team approached us with an opportunity to extend their successful firm and we worked closely with them to support the transaction.
“We drew on capabilities from across the Lloyds TSB Group to ensure the post-completion firm has a financial structure in place which closely matches its needs as it looks to the future.”
November 2008