Administrator KPMG has sold the Showpla Mouldings (GB-West Midlands WS6 7AL) subsidiary of Webgrove Holdings (GB-Birmingham B8 1; www.webgrove.co.uk) to Synchemicals, based in Leicester, a manufacturer of garden and horticultural products, including chemical pesticides. The terms of the sale have not been disclosed, but all 160 jobs at Showpla have been saved. The business has been renamed Showpla Plastics, with former general manager Tim Sweet as managing director.

When part of Webgrove, Showpla had a GBP 7m turnover and was operating profitably. It has injection moulding machines rated at up to 1,600 tonnes clamp, providing solid and gas-assisted components for the business machine, consumer electronics and automotive products markets. Its acquisition by Synchemicals is understood to be considered as an investment opportunity and part of a diversification programme.

The component decoration activities of XL Timbalex (GB-Oxfordshire OX11 7HJ), another Webgrove business, have also been bought from the administrator. A management buy-out team has renamed the business Auto Effects, but the purchase price has not been disclosed. There was also an MBO at the Leicester facility of Silkjet (GB-Leicester LE4 9LR), another profitable business owned by Webgrove, meaning that only its Telford-based Link Plastics (GB-Shropshire TF7 4QH) subsidiary failed to fined a buyer. Its 46 injection moulding machines were sold by auction earlier this month.