ELLESMERE Port gasket specialist Sealex has been bought for an undisclosed sum by French company FDS Group.

Sealex employs 28 staff at its Poole Hall Industrial Estate operation, but Paris-based FDS says the deal will lead to further job opportunities within its UK operations.

FDS, which recently acquired New-Seal Gasket, now has a UK branch network taking in Aberdeen, Glasgow, Middlesbrough, Ipswich, Cardiff, Bolton and Ellesmere Port.

It said its most recent purchase takes its UK workforce to more than 250, ‘with further job opportunities to be announced across other UK sites’.

Sealex, founded in 1982, is a gasket cutter and distribution company supplying sealing gaskets and hose products to suit customers’ individual needs.

Its client list includes Innospec, Cargill, Tate & Lyle, Solvay, Cammell Laird, Shell and Ineos.

David Mitchell, FDS group development director, said: “Although Sealex will form part of the FDS Group’s UK distribution network, we fully intend to continue supporting and supplying those independent distributors and cutters which we have traditionally dealt with.”

Sealex managing director Paul Marray, who will become distribution managing director, said: “The acquisition of Sealex by the FDS Group is a hugely exciting step for all those associated with Sealex.

“We are tapping into a level of technical expertise and ‘best in class’ products that are second to none in the market place.”

FDS said the purchase of Sealex is expected to add more than £3m to its UK sales. It said its acquisitions were based on a strategy to enhance the independent distribution of its products through a network in the UK, providing cover in the ‘key end user’ areas.