Two management buyouts at Synbra Group (Etten-Leur / The Netherlands; www.synbra.com) have resulted in the establishment of the UK’s largest EPS producer. With the financial backing of Mobeus Equity Partners, the management of Styropack (Blackburn / UK; www.styropack.co.uk) and Jablite (Belvedere / UK; www.jablite.co.uk) have successfully completed MBOs. The new company is owned by Richard Lee, the former CEO of Styropack, as well as Ken Hutchins – who now acts as finance director. The two other owners are Wayne Brown, who will oversee operations, and Mobeus’ John Colley, who has been named chairman.

The new owners assured customers that business will proceed as usual, adding that they plan to further strengthen the two companies’ market share in the future. “We are absolutely determined to grow our new company into a larger, thriving business whose products are always the first choice for insulation and packaging in the UK,” Lee commented on the MBO.

At its plants in Aberdeen, Blackburn and Ford, Styropack produces packaging solutions for the shipping, automotive, pharmaceutical, fishery and gardening segments, while Jablite specialises in the manufacture of EPS insulation materials, produced at its plants in Belvedere and Howden.