The announcement of the sale which takes effect from today [1 October] was made jointly in Cincinnati, Ohio where Multi-Color Corporation has its world headquarters and in Glasgow.
The current chairman John Watson has been with the company for 48 years and began work under the direction of his father in the company’s stationery shop in St Vincent Place before the business began its growth as a commercial label printer by moving to premises in Kyle Street, Port Dundas. Watson will be retiring from the business.
The news comes a few months after Canadian labelling giant CCL Industries announced that it was to abandon its takeover of John Watson & Co. In February, it said that both parties “were unable to reach agreement on contractual terms, and jointly decided to terminate further discussions”.
‘Global expansion’
Multi-Color Corporation chief executive Nigel Vinecombe said the deal was another important step in its global expansion.
He added: “We have always admired John Watson and Company and its world-class excellence particularly its expertise in delivering the finest quality labels for the global drinks industry and the Scotch whisky industry in particular.
“The right management and production team are in place in Glasgow and John Watson and Company has the enviable reputation of being at the top of the ‘Vendor Rating Schedules’ for all the major whisky accounts they already hold. This is a benchmark industry standard for quality, reliability and excellence
“When the opportunity arose we travelled to Scotland to meet with John Watson and his management team and were able to conclude a deal.”
“This is an important acquisition for us and dovetails perfectly John Watson and Company’s wet glue labels, tube and box wraps with our existing Glasgow pressure sensitive label business formerly known as Labelgraphics.”
Scotland
John Watson said: “We are delighted to have concluded this deal with Multi-Color Corporation which will see Glasgow and Scotland continue as a centre of global excellence in label printing and packaging.
“The highly skilled and dedicated 80-strong workforce are one of the great strengths of the John Watson team. This deal is undoubtedly the way forward for the business.
“Multi-Color Corporation is a large International Label Business, employing over 3000 employees in in North America, South America, Asia, Australia, South Africa and Europe. In Europe the business is under the direction of European Director Andrea Guidotti.
Multi-Color Corporation turns over in excess of $720m over 28 global locations. It will retain the existing John Watson workforce and plant in Kyle Street, Glasgow and there will be no redundancies.