Medical Support Systems buy-out supported by Gresham Trust Corporatewear leader in £14.6m management buy-out.

Cardiff-based MSS, a market leader in the design, manufacture and distribution of medical foam mattresses and cushions, has been bought out by its management team. The Birmingham office of Gresham Trust, the private equity house, is providing the equity backing for the BIMBO (buy- in management buy-out) transaction which was originated by KPMG Private Equity.

Banking facilities have been provided by Barclays Acquisition Finance Midlands.

Jon Lewis, managing director of MSS, and Colm Croskery lead the BIMBO team. Colm Croskery, who provides the "buy-in" element of the deal, brings a decade's experience in the sector principally with Hill-Rom, the healthcare equipment provider, the vendors are the Laidlaw family.

MSS, founded in 1974, has a major share of the UK market and is the leading supplier of pressure reducing foam mattresses and cushions for the NHS and private health sector. The company has sector leading technology and production processes with sufficient production capacity in place to support the anticipated rapid growth in sales. MSS employs 46 at its Cardiff site.

Jon Lewis, aged 36, has a production background in textiles, steel and engineering. He joined MSS as production director before becoming managing director in January 2000.

Colm Croskery, aged 38, has spent ten years at Hill-Rom in finance and sales and latterly as business development director.

"This is a real opportunity for us to grow the business which has an established track record in the UK," commented Colm Croskery, the new Joint Managing Director of MSS. "We are looking forward to building upon the success already achieved by developing new health care products. We are also seeking to boost the business' export potential by establishing distributorships both in Europe and the Far East."

Peter Naylor of Gresham Trust's Birmingham office commented "With this strong management team in place we believe MSS has excellent growth prospects based upon its strong market position and increased focus on pressure relief in healthcare. The company is a market leader with a respected brand name and a reputation for innovation."

Russell Orme of DLA provided legal advice to the management team, Pinsent Curtis, (Birmingham) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (Cardiff) advised Gresham Trust on the acquisition.