ACA PRESS Cutters, owned by the McCready family, has been sold in

a £6.5 million deal.

The acquisition was led by former ACA employee Joseph Keenan, who is backed by Glasgow-based entrepreneur Dara Changizi and six former senior managers at the business. Mr Keenan and Mr Changizi have formed a new board.

Mr Keenan is a print industry veteran, who has also spent time with SCA Packaging and J Thomson Colour Printers.

The new management team plans to build the business beyond its traditional heartland of Scotland and North of England, by forming partnerships with printers in the south of England.

Acquisitions are also being considered by the firm, as it aims for double-digit growth.

Revenue at the business was £4.4m in the year to August 31, 2016, with pre-tax profit of £366,294 – down from £627,292 in 2015.

ACA was founded by Alex McCready in 1985 and has grown from creating formes for the local print trade to being among Scotland’s foremost fully integrated print finishing businesses.

Mr Keenan said: “From my time working at ACA, I knew it was a business that had great potential. A skilled workforce delivering exceptional quality within a lucrative market is the type of operation entrepreneurs jump at.”

Royal Bank of Scotland contributed £2.95m to the deal through a combined arrangement of a loan, an Invoice Finance package and a Lombard Hire Purchase agreement.

Mr Changizi has a wide range of business interests, including ownership of the Killermont Motor Co, and estate agency Caledonian Bureau.