Sherpa Capital, a private equity fund manager focused on mid-market companies with EUR500 million under management, announces the sale of Macrolibros, a leading Spanish printing and binding company for children’s and educational books, to Gráficas Ceyde.
Founded more than 40 years ago and based in Valladolid, Macrolibros is a market leader in the educational and children’s book sector, with a clear international vocation, generating more than 70 per cent of its sales abroad. Macrolibros enjoys product quality, processes, and machinery, allows the company to work with top level clients both nationally and internationally, maintaining a consolidated relationship as a reference supplier for the production of educational books, having participated in some of the most iconic educational collections in Spain.
Since the entry of Sherpa Capital in 2012, Macrolibros’ strategy has been based on providing the necessary investment to meet an increasingly specialised demand and equipping the company with a fleet of machinery that sets it apart from its competitors.
Gráficas CEYDE, which was acquired by Gold Tower Investments in 2019, is dedicated to a generalist printing activity oriented towards the high-quality direct marketing segment. At present, CEYDE has first-rate national clients with whom it maintains a close relationship both in the development of the marketing strategy and in the definition of the final product to be executed.
The transaction is part of the consolidation process that the printing sector is undergoing and has the clear objective of consolidating a leading company at national and international level as a very attractive supplier for large publishing groups.
The resulting group will gain size, combine its production capacity, its know-how in closely related markets, with a strong emphasis on expanding its customer base, as well as expanding into new business verticals.
This group will continue to be led by the current management teams, together with the creation of a new Board of Directors, which will include directors with in-depth commercial and industrial knowledge, and which will lay the foundations for the organisation and growth in the coming years.
Jorge Fernández, partner at Sherpa Capital, says: “We are very satisfied with the evolution of Macrolibros as we have supported them in very complex moments, such as when the plant burned down in 2015 and we had to rebuild it and make new investments. For us, the sale to a group like CEYDE, with a clear industrial project in the medium and long term, means that Macrolibros can take the next step, expanding its range of services and its catalogue of clients, as well as combining its capabilities with those that a group like CEYDE can offer”.
Manuel Torres, partner of Gráficas CEYDE, says: “This transaction allows us to continue our project of consolidation and creation of a leader in the graphic arts sector, where the industrial union of companies allows us to offer a better proposal to customers, which we believe will be differential for the coming years. In addition, our objective is to continue to identify other attractive opportunities that can help us to complete our growth strategy for the coming years”.
The transaction has been advised by Baker Tilly as financial advisor to the transaction, DLA as legal advisor to Sherpa Capital and Mavens as legal advisor to Gráficas Ceyde.
