Kelvinside Holdings has acquired two British companies, Multisets in Swindon, and Greys Packaging in Bristol. The price has not been disclosed but it is understood to have been around £3.5 million for both. Kelvinside, set up by a consortium headed by former Inishtech managing director, Mr Brian Molloy, has reached its two-year target of £9 million sales and profits of £600,000 after just one year. Mr Molloy told The Irish Times the two-year forecast had been upgraded to sales of £20 million and pre-tax profits of £1.5 million to £2 million, following the latest acquisitions. The two new acquisitions have combined sales of £7 million and employ 75 people. Profits are understood to be under £1 million which puts the consideration on an attractive profit multiple. They have been growing at 10 per cent to 15 per cent per annum.

Kelvinside, he said, is only interested in companies with a proven track record and is not interested in turnaround situations. It has around 300 groups looking for acquisitions in Britain, he added. The assets of the two acquisitions amount to £1.5 million which will throw up a goodwill item of some £2 million. How this is treated will be decided at the end of this year, said Mr Molloy. Multisets specialises in security and direct mail printing while Greys Packaging is involved in flexible packaging with a focus on supplying printed plastic packaging to the mail order and publishing markets. The main shareholders/directors, Mr Robert Fellows and Mr Brian Elliott of Multisets, and Mr Michael Johnstone of Greys Packaging, have entered into service contracts. They "have committed to continue the development of their operations in conjunction with Kelvinside", according to yesterday's group announcement.