The deal took place after Bifold’s shareholders looked at several options, including a trade sale and an IPO.

Bifold’s management team has taken a majority equity stake in the business, while Bank of Scotland Integrated Finance backed the deal with debt and equity in return for a minority stake.

Barclays Ventures, which supported the MBO of Bifold in December 2002, has exited the company. It realised a return of nearly eight times its original investment. Bifold’s four-strong management team, meanwhile, has increased its stake in the business.

Since the MBO, Manchester-based Bifold has increased its turnover by 200 per cent to £15 million. This was achieved both through organic growth and through acquisitions, such as pump manufacturer Marshalsea Hydraulics in April 2006.

The company is looking to make further acquisitions. Chief executive Gary Jacobson says: ‘We are excited about the prospects for the next few years where we plan to maintain our rapid organic and acquisitive growth.’

Bifold was founded more than 100 years in Wigan. It has 110 staff at its headquarters in Manchester, as well as offices in the US and Singapore.