Blaze Signs, in Broadstairs, has been bought by UK private equity fund Elaghmore.
Blaze, which also has a manufacturing and service centre in Birmingham, makes, installs and maintains signs for brands including Lloyds Bank, Vision Express, Tescos and Sainsburys. During the pandemic, Blaze has also been providing social distancing signs for its customers.
The acquisition includes Blaze’s trading subsidiaries Blaze Signs Ltd and Cygnia Maintenance Ltd. Cygnia is the UK’s largest provider of sign maintenance, sign repairs and image protection services.
Blaze employs 250 people in total and made some £25 million in revenue in 2019. The management team led by Clive Knight, Chris Abbott & Fraser Burns will continue to lead the business following the acquisition. Elaghmore aquired Blaze from private equity firm Mobeus.
Blaze will become part of the Hexcite Group which was created by Elaghmore in 2019. The Hexcite Group is a provider of design, communication, brand activation, display and merchandising products and services.
Michael Rice, Investment Director at Elaghmore and a director of Hexcite Group, said: “By becoming part of the Hexcite Group, Blaze will add new capabilities that increase the ways we can help our customers as well as growing our network of retailers and brands.
We are delighted to welcome our new colleagues from Blaze and Cygnia to the Elaghmore portfolio and to Hexcite. Together, we look forward to growing our share of the marketplace and would embrace opportunities to add other compatible businesses to the Group.”
Clive Knight, CEO of Blaze Signs Holdings, said: “We are delighted to be joining forces with the Hexcite Group businesses and are excited about accelerating the growth and development of Blaze by working closely with numerous likeminded colleagues, who understand the vital importance of innovation, quality and first class service for our many retail and brand owning customers.”
