US film equipment maker Battenfeld Gloucester Engineering is under new ownership, following a management buyout of the 46-year old company led by two former owners of EGS Gauging.

Partners John Sharood and Dick Murphy flew to Düsseldorf to announce the news at the show and to meet customers and employees.

The company was sold by SMS Group, which is now left with no plastics machinery businesses. In 2006 SMS sold Battenfeld Kunststoffmaschinen, the injection moulding machine business, to Adcuram. In March this year, SMS signed a deal with Triton, which bought the extrusion machinery businesses – Battenfeld Extrusionstechnik, SMS Extrusion Kempen, American Maplan Corp, Battenfeld Extrusion Systems (China) and Cincinnati Extrusion.

Battenfeld Gloucester Engineering will now return to its original name of Gloucester Engineering. The machinery maker employs 305 people and generates sales of about $100m a year, Sharood said.

Mousam Ventures, the private equity firm, joined with eight senior Gloucester Engineering managers to invest in the company. Sharood is now chairman of the company. Murphy is vice chairman.

In 2002, Sharood and Murphy teamed up to lead a management buyout of EGS Gauging Systems from Eurotherm.

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