Whitecroft Lighting has been bought by Swedish firm Fagerhult six years after it was acquired by management.
The firm was spun out of the once-mighty Manchester textile giant Whitecroft Group after it went into liquidation in 1999.
The management team, with its Dutch venture capital backer H2, which held a 75 per cent stake, paid £9.2m for the lighting division.
It was renamed Whitecroft Lighting and continue to trade from its site in Ashton under Lyne.
Today, the firm employs 280 people and has a turnover of £28m. Last year it made a profit of around £1m.
The deals represents a windfall for the four remaining members of the original buyout team, directors Paul Barton, Michael Wood, Paul Cassidy and Gary Turner.
They will remain at the company, which supplies lighting systems to the healthcare and education sectors.
Fagerhult, which is based in Habo and is quoted on the Stockholm stock exchange, turns over £115m and employs 1,200 people.
Mr Barton said: "As a member of Fagerhult Group, this allows us to continue to invest and strengthen our market position.
"Fagerhult is one of Europe's leading lighting companies and this is a tremendous fit for Whitecroft in every respect."
He added: "We will continue to build on our brand and market position in the commercial, healthcare, education and retail sectors." Tweet
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After years of dealing with Whitecroft and finding their lead times, in comparison to larger manufacturers, very good, I hope that this buyout will not lead to their service declining...
Dave
I appreciate your comments and I can assure you it will not affect our service and in fact we are all working to improve our service levels still further. Thank you for your support. Paul Barton MD
As a former employee of Whirecroft Lighting in quotations (4 years ago now!) I sincerely hope for their continued success. The company provided a springboard for me personally and I wish my former colleages the best of good fortune.
I am delighted that the company is going forward, however 28 Mill is quite a turn over and looks exiting,however with a profit of only1 Mill it is a 1/28 ratio where realistically it should be around 5 to 8 Mill.
I fear that the manufacturing costs in the UK need addressing and heads should turn to the Far East, or the plot may be lost.