Racal Acoustics, which provides hearing protection products to the military, has been acquired by US group Esterline Technologies for £115 million.

Racal Acoustics, which provides hearing protection products to the military, has been acquired by US group Esterline Technologies for £115 million.

The management buy-out (MBO) was led by Racal’s CEO Geof Eeles along with sales director Terry Buckle, finance director David Watton and operations director Paul Watson. It provides an exit for UK mid-market investor ECI, which backed the Harrow-based company’s previous MBO in 2005.

ECI says Racal’s turnover has doubled since 2004 while profits are up nearly 150 per cent.

Ken Lindsay, a director of ECI, comments, ‘Racal Acoustics is a great UK industrial success story. Over the last few years it has developed into a global market leader in its field on the back of a commitment to [research and development], market-leading product design capabilities and a great management team.’

Esterline has a market capitalisation of $1.2 billion (£810 million) and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. It supplies equipment and materials to the aerospace and defence industry.