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In a deal advised on by EMC Corporate Finance, US office equipment giant Fellowes has completed a full takeover of Posturite Ltd, the UK’s leading manufacturer and distributor of ergonomic furniture and equipment for the workplace.
Fellowes acquired a 20% stake in Berwick, East Sussex-based Posturite in 2017 and has now taken up its option to buy the remaining 80%.
The deal sees Michel van Beek, Fellowes’ President EMEA / Asia Pacific, join the Posturite board where he will work closely with the company’s founder and CEO Ian Fletcher-Price.
Nik Askaroff, who led EMC’s team advising Posturite, said: “We have worked with Posturite for more than 15 years and have seen it grow to become the dominant force in the UK’s burgeoning ergonomics market.
“It is already engaged in a major expansion programme through a combination of organic growth, product innovation and overseas growth, and this will be greatly enhanced with Fellowes’ support.”
Posturite employs 200 people and has a turnover of £30m. Its customer base includes 80% of the UK’s top 250 companies who use Posturite to help them solve or avoid musculoskeletal problems among their staff.
Ian Fletcher-Price, who founded the business in 1991 with a single product – an adjustable sloping writing board – knocked up in his mother’s garden shed, said: “I would like to thank Nik Askaoff and his team at EMC for their tremendous support not just in getting this deal over the line ahead of what we had originally planned, but also for all the support they have given the company over the last 15 years or more.
“We have used their interim management and business support services in many areas over the years and their sage advice has always proved invaluable.
“We can now look forward to an exciting future under the Fellowes umbrella, with a fantastic opportunity to expand into new markets overseas.”
Michel van Beek said: “This change in ownership will not change anything materially on a day to day basis. Whilst we will look for ways to help Posturite to become more competitive, the main priority is to not disrupt the successful business in the UK and work on a step-by-step principle how we want to grow together in the mainland of Europe.”
EMC as lead advisors were supported by DMH Stallard (legals) and Plummer Parson and MHA Carpenter Box (tax and accounting). DLA Piper (legals) and Grant Thornton (tax and accounting) acted for Fellowes.
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