With effect from 6th February, kdg France holding SAS has sold the entire share capital of its Welsh subsidiary, kdg UK Limited, to Peter John Hewitt of Loughton, Essex.

In 2003, kdg established a UK presence with the incorporation of kdg UK Ltd in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, investing nearly £3 million in a state-of-the-art CD/DVD production centre.

"While kdg international is still doing good business in its other European regions, we have faced some difficulties in reaching the optimum production levels necessary to maintain a plant in the UK," says Pierre-Antoine Berthold, CEO of kdg international. "We therefore took the decision to divest this subsidiary and continue to concentrate our efforts within continental Europe."

Hewitt, the new owner, has a proven track record in company restructuring and, in addition to being a Chartered Accountant, he has successfully managed a number of firms, leading two of them to London Stock Exchange flotation.

Hewitt is said to have a substantial number of contacts in the software business outside of this UK, which helped him to identify the potential of the Merthyr Tydfil plant. Hewitt is confident that he will be able to tap into this potential profitability to grow the business and secure the local employment.

The company will no longer trade as kdg UK Limited and the name change was due to take place shortly after the final sale. Pierre-Antoine Berthold and Koen Janmaat, former directors of kdg UK Limited, have stepped down, and Hewitt has been appointed as director.

kdg is a European provider of CD & DVD replication and logistic services to audio, video and software publishers. Austria-based kdg mediatech AG and kdg France SAS employ around 400 people.

Story filed 09.02.06