The deal was completed on 1 September for an undisclosed sum and will see £2m-turnover TPH move all staff and assets over to SG’s UK headquarters, also in Crewe.
All staff have chosen to remain with the business, apart from director Paul Springthorpe who left earlier this week. Relocation will begin in December and is expected to be completed by the end of March, bringing SG’s UK staff numbers up to 200 and boosting its £9.2m turnover by 25%.
SG chief executive Mark Haase said that TPH had been one of its key suppliers for around a decade and seemed an obvious fit when searching for a commercial printer to acquire.
“We have always looked to either have good supplier relationships or wherever possible actually own part or all of the supply chain,” said Haase.
“Our auditor is their accountant and we knew our long-term strategic goal and obviously also recognised the business [TPH] itself was at that point where they needed to look at five-to-10-year goals, and for us it fitted right in for where we planned to go.
“The discussions around the opportunity in the marketplace and our customer base, which is large, over 20,000, meant we could leverage their proposition in our marketplace and quickly led to ‘What would happen if we acquired the business and is the business in a good position where it would want to be acquired?’”
Haase added that the deal was wrapped up within a week.
TPH managing director Peter Harrison, who led an MBO of the firm in 2007 along with Springthorpe, described the deal as an “exciting time” for the business that was founded more than 25 years ago.
He said: “The opportunity of being part of a big organisation and moving up means there are a lot more resources, people with skillsets who we didn’t have access to before.
“We’ve got a finance function now whereas before we were looking after it ourselves and they have a much bigger sales team.”
Joining SG's range of kit for its bespoke printing service, TPH will be bringing across a five-colour Sakurai press, two Mimaki large-format machines, a Muller Martini stitching line, a range of folders and guillotines, and also direct-to-garment (DTG) and embroidery machinery for sub-brand Vectorbomb, which it launched three years ago when Vectorbomb leader Richard Sproson joined the business.
SG prints its own range of functional products, mainly for the health and safety and facilities management sectors, running four Speedmaster presses and a Ricoh Pro C901 digital press. After a “rejig” of the premises, according to Harrison, no expansion will be required.
SG World has a “broad international footprint”, according to Haase, with offices in Ireland, Belgium, Germany and an incorporated company in the US.
“We’ve still got the opportunity to acquire internationally and this doesn’t in any way interfere with those plans,” added Haase.
