Managing director Gerard Harford, who joined the business in the role in 2016, and finance director Mark Stokes led the MBO from private equity firm Sullivan Street Partners. The deal was completed last month.
The MBO has been supported by London-based Harwood Private Equity, part of Harwood Capital Management Group, which has £1.7bn of assets under management.
In a statement on the Crewe, Cheshire-based company’s website, Medica said: “Harwood are a very successful investor with significant funds, and they have the financial strength and depth to allow Medica to continue to invest and grow to meet the ever-demanding needs of our customers.
“We believe this presents a great opportunity to take the business to the next stage in its development and to build on the progress that has been made under the stewardship of Sullivan Street Partners.
“2020 has been a challenging year with the pandemic and the significant reduction of capacity in the manufacture of folding cartons to the healthcare markets in the UK. We believe this is an opportunity for Medica to consolidate its position as the leading independent supplier into this sector, maintaining the focus on quality, value, and short lead-times.”
Medica said the rest of the company’s management team will remain in their existing roles and that for customers it will be “business as usual”.
At the start of the third lockdown in England earlier this month, the firm had separately posted that it was working normally through the pandemic to a 10-day lead time, “having been identified as a key business in the supply chain of medicines”. It said it was maintaining operational safe working practices and has a robust supply chain.
Medica Packaging produces printed cardboard cartons and folded leaflets for healthcare customers. It was established in 1922 and became an autonomous business within the Wellcome Group in the 1970s. It was taken into private ownership in 1993, and was then acquired by Benson Group in 2005.
Benson Group was subsequently bought by global firm Graphic Packaging International in February 2014 and Medica split from the company six months later when it was bought by Sullivan Street Partners.
In its most recently filed accounts at Companies House, for the year ended 31 March 2019, the business reported a turnover of £18.6m, up from £14.6m the previous year, and a pre-tax profit of £1.45m, up from £573,000. At the time, it had 145 staff on its books, up from 118 the year before.
