Watersheds propels sale of Rocket Graphics to Moss

Watersheds says its experience of negotiating business acquisitions that span the Atlantic and beyond came to the fore as it steered the sale of Rocket Graphics to international graphics and custom installations producer Moss – backed by American private equity firm EagleTree.

Rocket Graphics was founded by Tim Porter 25 years ago and in this time has developed an innovative and eco-conscious approach to create the most appropriate, highest quality and most sustainable branding solutions.

Moss recognised the potential of the strategic acquisition to help meet its goal of expanding further in the UK, having initially expanded into the country in 2023 through buying Macro Art, a high-end graphics provider.

In addition to Cambridgeshire and the UK, Moss also operates in the US, Germany and Poland and the two businesses say they share similar values and approaches to sustainability and customer service as well as synergies in their client offer.

Rocket’s signage printing and installation business strengthens the global Moss brand, with its specialism in eco-friendly large format printing for sectors including retail, exhibitions, construction, large public events and sporting events.

Corporate finance specialists Watersheds led the acquisition on behalf of Rocket, providing them with specialist advice and expertise gained from a successful track record of international mergers and acquisitions.

Partner at Watersheds, William Senior, explained: “Deals that span the continents can be notoriously complicated due to differing legal systems. However our experience bringing international sales to a close allowed us to guide them in what would be needed in this instance, in addition to the added nuances placed by dealing with an overseas private equity firm.

“Rocket’s financial leadership was already strong and the team had experience of mergers and acquisitions. However, due to the complexity of this international deal, they chose to bring in Watersheds to provide specialist guidance.

“We were also able to recommend and bring in trusted advisory partners with the right experience from the US and UK in order to successfully close the deal.

“It’s imperative to have robust representation when you’re buying or selling a business – and even more so when the two sides have previously worked closely together.

“Due to existing relationships between Rocket and Moss we were able to step in and lead conversations which may have been uncomfortable for the two sides due to their history – as well as being able to push Rocket further and ‘fight their corner’ in negotiations in order to procure the best possible results.”