A SUCCESSFUL Weymouth manufacturing business is to strike out on its own following a £22 million deal.

Ultra Electronics' pioneering ID card printer arm, Ultra ID, is being established as an independent UK company after Ultra sold it to private equity firm LDC for £22m.

The move could lead to more jobs being created at the Weymouth site as the Magicard printing business, which was developed by defence specialists Ultra more than 20 years ago from its sonar work, grows substantially.

Magicard printer customers include from the security industry as well as schools and universities, and the firm is looking to develop its business with government IDs and driving licences.

LDC, which has a portfolio of more than 90 businesses across the UK and is part of Lloyds Banking Group, secured the deal in conjunction with the company's leadership team.

As a result, the business will leave the Ultra Electronics group and will be renamed Magicard Ltd.

The business will remain at Ultra's Waverley House site on the Granby Industrial Estate. It is stressed that the 70 Magicard staff will be retained and the two other Ultra Electronics businesses on the site, which make circuit boards and sonar systems and employ a further 280 staff, will be unaffected.

There will be some building works at Waverley House to separate the Ultra and the Magicard Ltd business.

Bosses say investment from LDC will help the Magicard business grow substantially over the coming years, with opportunities for further growth and new jobs.

Andy Matko, CEO of Magicard Ltd said: “This is exciting news for Magicard and our global network of loyal partners. This deal, along with the recent development of our Helix retransfer printer, will enable the business to move to the next level by investing further in product development, sales and marketing. For our customers and suppliers, it will very much be business as normal, with the existing management team and global operations centres all staying in place.”

Gordon Hague, Investment Director at LDC, said: "Andy Matko and his senior management team have built a dynamic company with a respected and trusted position in the ID market as evidenced by its broad and growing customer base. We have already identified a number of growth opportunities to expand into new industry verticals and geographies and look forward to partnering with Magicard's management team to achieve those goals."

Organically developed within the defence and security specialist Ultra in 1992, Magicard is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of secure desktop ID card printers, with offices in Weymouth, America, Shanghai and Dubai. Operations, engineering and production will continue to centre at the high-precision Weymouth facility.