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Print move for Buffalo Group

ENGINEERING specialist The Buffalo Group is expanding its operations into the printing sector with the acquisition of a leading specialist manufacturer.

Manchester-based Buffalo Group has bought Open Date Equipment Limited for an undisclosed sum in a deal advised by the Manchester office of Top 100 UK law firm Ward Hadaway.

The Buffalo Group already operates companies in a number of sectors in the engineering field, including Greenwood Lonsdale, Heavey Engineering, Derbyshire Castings, Evridge Precision Engineering, Unicorn Self-Drive and Beverley Environmental.

The acquisition of Open Date Equipment Limited represents a first move into the printing industry for The Buffalo Group.

Open Date is a world leader in the design and manufacture of on and off-line coding, marking and overprinting systems for use on flexible packaging materials and labels.

Its products are used in a range of industrial applications including packaging and labelling operations.

The UK arm of the company is based in Mitcham in Surrey and Open Date also has operations in the US, France and Germany and a network of agents across Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas. In total Open Date employs 45 people worldwide.

Ian Hogg, managing director of The Buffalo Group, said: “We are delighted with the acquisition of Open Date Equipment Limited.

“The company has a long track record of success in its sector with customers across the UK and abroad.

“Its excellent reputation in the marketplace gives us a real head-start in our efforts to move into the printing systems sector and its acquisition further broadens The Buffalo Group’s already diverse range of engineering and manufacturing businesses.”

The Buffalo Group was advised on the transaction by lawyers from the Manchester office of UK Top 100 law firm Ward Hadaway.

Corporate Partner Melanie Yeomans led the firm’s team.

Melanie said: “It has been a pleasure to work with Ian and his team at Buffalo to secure the acquisition of Open Date Equipment Limited.

“The transaction enables The Buffalo Group to pursue their strategy of moving into this particular market by securing a leading specialist in the sector.”

FGI Finance, a global commercial finance company, also played a key role in The Buffalo Group’s acquisition of Open Date as the referred lender of the deal.

“FGI was glad to partner with The Buffalo Group, to provide multi-jurisdictional financing and to quickly and effectively provide the growth capital needed for their acquisition plans”, said FGI’s Executive Director, Sami Altaher, who led the funding transaction.

In addition to Open Date Equipment Limited, The Buffalo Group runs a further six companies.

Rochdale-based Heavey Engineering specialises in manufacturing fabrications and machined items of various metals, Altrincham-based Derbyshire Castings supplies castings in Ferrous and Non-ferrous alloys plus dedicated pre-fabrication and bespoke design services, Surrey-based Beverley Environmental makes and supplies equipment to break down waste products into non-polluting components and Kent-based Evridge Precision Engineering specialises in CNC machining, conventional machining, special purpose machines, toolmaking and special cutting tools.

Greenwood Lonsdale operates from the same site as Heavey Engineering in Rochdale and is one of the few remaining manufacturers and suppliers of “Point of Weave” components for the textile industry while Unicorn Self-Drive is a car and van rental hire business based in Salford Quays.

The shareholders of Open Date Equipment Limited were advised by Tim Sadka and Andrew Hawkins of leading South East law firm Rawlison Butler LLP.

Please note that this briefing is designed to be informative, not advisory and represents our understanding of English law and practice as at the date indicated. We would always recommend that you should seek specific guidance on any particular legal issue.

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