4imprint sell Brand Addition

4IMPRINT Group is to sell off its Brand Addition business and a German subsidiary to private equity firm HIG Capital for £24m.  HIG Capital is backing a management buy-out team led by the company's CEO Christopher Lee and its finance director Claire Thomson.

Brand Addition is a profitable part of corporate gifts company 4imprint which sells branded merchandise and promotional goods to medium- and larger-sized businesses throughout the UK and Europe.  In the year to December 31, the company achieved a turnover of £65m and in the first half of the year it made an operating profit of £2m. By July last year, it also had net assets of around £13m.  Some £22.75m of the money is being paid on completion, with the remaining £1.25m payable 12 months later.

The sale is subject to shareholder approval, as well as clearance from authorities in Austria and Germany.  4imprint said the sale was consistent with its strategy "of focusing its resources on continued organic growth in the 4imprint Direct Marketing business".

It said that £12m of the proceeds would go towards contributions to a final salary pension scheme, while a further £10m will be retained by the company with an element used to pay down debt.