New chapter for UK book printers

UK book printers Bath Press, Cox and Wyman and Mackays have been bought as part of a deal worth €450m, it emerged today.

Book printers Bath Press, Cox and Wyman and Mackays have been bought as part of a deal worth €450m, it emerged today.

The UK businesses are part of CPI, which has been acquired in a management buy-out backed by the private equity groups Electra Partners and CVC Capital.

CPI is Europe’s largest monochrome book manufacturer with 18 plants capable of producing more than two million books a day. It has 4,300 staff in the UK, France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.

The company was founded in 1996 through the purchase of Bussiere, a French printer, and now boasts annual sales of more than €400m.

Timothy Bovard, who co-founded the business and subsequently expanded it with the support of private investors and bank debt, is involved in the buy-out with Electra and CVC Capital.

Nigel McConnell told the Financial Times that there were no plans for major job cuts and that the group would expand under its new ownership.

He added: “There are probably another 10 to 15 acquisition targets that we can consider.”

Previous deals added Bath Press and Cox and Wyman – part of Liberfabrica – in August 1999 and Mackays in September 2000.

With more than 330 employees, Chatham, Kent-based Mackays produces around 75 million books every year – some 20 million of which are hardbacks.

Bath Press has 300 staff in Bath and Glasgow and is able to produce more than 20 million books per year, while Reading-based Cox & Wyman has 125 employees and a capacity of more than one million books per week.