Former Polestar owner Investcorp buys SPGPrints Group

Investcorp, the Bahrain-listed private equity group that owned Polestar from 1998 to 2006, has acquired Netherlands-based screen and digital printing equipment manufacturer SPGPrints Group.

Investcorp, which is best known in print circles for its ill-fated investment in Polestar, has agreed to acquire SPGPrints from Bencis Capital Partners for an enterprise value of €240m (£190m).

The private equity fund also currently owns Chicago-based packaging company Berlin Packaging, which it acquired in 2007, and Esmalglass, a Spanish company that produces high-quality ceramic glazes and colours, as well as inkjet inks.

SPGPrints, which is headquartered in Boxmeer, the Netherlands, has customers in more than 100 countries worldwide and in 2013 generated revenue of €214m, a large share of which was from emerging markets.

The company specialises in the design and manufacture of rotary screen and digital printing equipment for the textiles and graphics markets, including labels, packaging, security, wallcovering and industrial printing, as well as printed electronics.

It also manufactures precision metal parts including inkjet nozzle plates using a process called electroforming, which enables the fabrication of metallic devices on the micro or nano scale.

Carsten Hagenbucher, a principal of Investcorp's corporate investment team in London, said: "We have followed SPGPrints for a long time and were attracted by its differentiated, global rotary screen business, its innovative digital inks activities, attractive precision metals offering and entrepreneurial management team.

"We’re excited to now have the opportunity to partner with management as we seek to help accelerate the company’s growth, both organically and through appropriate add-on acquisitions, and to drive continued international expansion."