De Schutter in management buyout

The management team of Belgian pre-press group De Schutter Neroc (DSN) has concluded an MBO for an undisclosed sum and is eyeing growth across the UK.

Since 2004 private equity firm Bencis has been the controlling shareholder of DSN, which provides repro, design and branding services for FMCG packaging.

But at the beginning of April, the group's chief executive Wim Demeestere along with chief financial officer Wout Van Egmond, commercial director Otto Groen and plant directors Erik de Cloe and Erwin Meinsma, leveraged private financial backing in order to take 100% control of the business and sister repro and pre-press firm Neroc’VGM (N’VGM).

The two businesses will be operate under the banner of DSN but retain their individual brands.

The €32m (£27m)-turnover, 250-staff group is headquartered in Antwerp and has offices in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and the Czech Republic with clients in more than 36 countries including Mars and Unilever in the UK.

Earlier this year the group signaled its intent to push further into the UK with the appointment of UK-based sales director Donovan Parr.

Parr said that although the company’s core offer was similar to the competition, DSN’s artwork and reprographics production was steps ahead.

He added: "We are a new choice to explore and in reality we have significantly advanced technology tools that is putting clear distance between us and our peers.
 
"The timing is interesting too given the growing pressures food businesses have with Food Information to Consumers (FIC) compliance, which is where our technology really steps up to the mark and helps those with resource or capacity dilemmas."