A Cheshire engineering company which works with the likes of Shell, P&G and Unilever has completed a management buyout.
Directors Paul Davies, Paul Buck and Carl Wilkinson have acquired a majority stake in Statiflo International for an undisclosed sum.
The trio have bought the Macclesfield business from the family of owner and managing director Gareth Fry, who passed away last year following a short illness.
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Mr Fry's widow Jenny retains a minority stake in the company.
Following the MBO, Mr Davies moves from finance director to managing director and becomes chairman.
Mr Buck remains as sales director while Mr Wilkinson has been promoted to technical director from group business development manager.
John Baron, who founded Statiflo in 1983, remains a director. He sold the business to Mr Fry in April 2016.
Statiflo has subsidiaries in the US and Germany, employs 25 staff and has annual revenues of £5m.
The company exports to nearly 100 countries, supplying the water and waste water treatment industries, oil and gas, petrochemical, food and drink, pharmaceutical, pulp and paper sectors.
Mr Davies said: "With this management buyout, we are fulfilling Gareth’s wishes.
"During his illness he told us that his preferred way forward for the business he had built was through an MBO.
"We aim to build on his vision for Statiflo and his plans for continued and sustainable global growth alongside investment in research and development into new products serving a wide range of markets.
"It’s very much business as usual. We have a superb team of highly knowledgeable individuals alongside an excellent network of dedicated business partners around the world, and we look forward to working in partnership with them to achieve our goals."
Mrs Fry added: "Gareth’s passion and vision for Statiflo was undeniable and an MBO, like he himself did, was the future he saw for the business.
"He built an amazing team around him who all share his passion and vision, so I am confident that Statiflo will continue to grow and reach the potential they all believe it can."
Tim Potter, Lauren Roberts and James Thompson at accountancy firm HURST advised the trustees of Gareth’s estate and the management team on the buyout.
Christopher Dunn and David Armitage of Gateley provided legal advice to both parties.
