Thursday 3rd July 2008

Franking machine business'
£1m boost

Done deals:

• Nationwide Franking Sense, a family firm that supplies postal franking machines and office equipment to clients including Sainsbury’s and Bolton Wanderers FC, has received £1 million from Royal Bank of Scotland to develop its leasing operations
• Harry Irving, a specialist in the design, creation and production of pet products, has been rescued from administration by Pet Life Ventures. The terms of the deal involving the £6.6 million turnover company remain undisclosed
• Markerstudy Group, an underwriting and distribution company that provides car insurance policies under various brands, has acquired Oxford-based Thamescity Insurance Brokers, a private car specialist, for £15 million. The deal will bring Markerstudy’s distribution arm to just under £50 million gross written premium
• Hampshire farmer Malcome Issac has sold his watercress business to a Portuguese company in a deal worth some £50 million. Vitacress Salads, one of the largest salad growers and distributors in the country, was bought by Group RAR after several months of negotiations
• Norfolk-based distributor Midwich has tabled an agreement to buy Synergix, a Wokingham-based distributor of Auto-ID, mobile computing and data collection technologies with £7 million sales in 2007
• Healthcare Homes, a residential care provider in the East of England, has acquired Car Plus Essex of Newport, a provider of homecare to private individuals as well as Essex and Cambridgeshire country councils. This is Healthcare Homes’ second acquisition in four weeks, although the terms remain undisclosed it is believed that the deal takes its transaction spend to some £20 million this year
• Leicester Circuits has been bought by a consortium led by the firm’s previous owners. The engineering firm, which is focused on the military, medical and leisure sectors, went into administration last month and has been rescued by Keithy Fisher, general manager, for undisclosed terms
• Maxima Holdings Plc, an IT solutions and managed services provider, has bought DXI Networks for £9.11 million in cash. The deal will be financed by Barclays

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