Rosti Group buys McKechnie Engineered Plastics for £31m

Rosti Group, which operates an injection moulding plant in South Lanarkshire, has bought McKechnie Engineered Plastics for £30.7m.

McKechnie, previously owned by turnaround specialists Melrose, operates 110 injection moulding machines from 'state-of-the-art' plants in Stamford Bridge and Pickering in North Yorkshire, as well as a metal fabrications and fixings operation based in South Wales.

It is reported to have annual turnover of around £75m and employs more than 650 people. As well as range of automotive and packaging products it produces the flow widgets that go into cans of Guinness and Heineken.

The company will be integrated with Rosti Europe, a division of Rosti Group which is owned by Swedish investment outfit Nordstjernan. It currently supplies most of Rosti's existing markets and the strategic fit between the two businesses was described by Rosti Group chief executive Borje Vernet as "impressive".

Rosti Europe chief operating officer Barry Coughlan agreed, and said the deal would open up a number of global markets to what had previously been a UK-centric business.

“McKechnie’s customers are delighted to be working with a global company and there is tremendous scope to capitalise on that aspect going forward. This is a major step forward [for McKechnie] and we are delighted to be working with what is a very strong, very technically-minded team of people,” he said.

Coughlan said Rosti had been on the lookout for companies to buy for some time and had been in talks with McKechnie since the beginning of this year.

He said no closures or redundancies were planned and described the acquisition as an “expansion opportunity, not a rationalisation exercise”.

“McKechnie has an outstanding reputation with a complimentary portfolio of products, services, customers and markets.

“We are extremely positive about the synergy between our businesses. Combining our resources will provide a platform for both UK and international growth with many of our global OEM partners,” he added.

Coughlan said there were no plans to change McKechnie’s “fantastic” management team, which comprises Brian Mann, managing director, and Mike Murphy, sales director.

Melrose chairman Christopher Miller said McKechnie had “performed well as part of the Melrose group and we wish the management team every success”.

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