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Garbutt & Elliot advises on multimillion Abracs sale

Abracs Ltd, the York-based supplier of premium quality branded abrasives and accessories, has been acquired by a Leeds investment company for an undisclosed sum.

The York office of accountants Garbutt & Elliott acted as lead advisors for Abracs in the multimillion pound deal, whilst James Towler of York law firm Langleys provided legal advice.

Abracs, which is based at Northminster Business Park, and has a warehouse in Dunnington, was established in 2003, when it de-merged from York power tools supplier Elcocks Limited.

Previously a family-owned business, Abracs is one of the UK’s leading suppliers of premium quality branded abrasives and accessories, including Phoenix and Proflex-branded abrasive and cutting products.

The existing management team will continue to run the business and the jobs of the 18 staff will not be affected by the sale.

Graham Garbett, senior manager within Garbutt & Elliott’s Corporate Finance team, explained: “The sale was precipitated by the retirement of managing director David Elcock.

“As a result of David’s impending retirement, we were appointed to find a buyer and to provide financial advice at all stages of the sale process.

“It gave me great pleasure that David and his fellow shareholders were able to achieve their twin goal of selling the business at a price which reflected the high quality of its customers, suppliers and staff, and to sell it to a forward- thinking Yorkshire based acquisition team.”

The Garbutt & Elliott team was Graham Garbett and corporate finance colleague Tariq Javaid, co-ordinated by senior partner David Dickson.

The buyer was a new company established as an investment vehicle for a group of high net-worth individuals in Yorkshire, who have previously successfully acquired other similar businesses in the region. Bank finance was provided by Yorkshire Bank.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Mark Lane .