Wolstenholme Rink PLC -- a Darwen company with strong Bolton links -- is the subject of an agreed £48.7 million takeover deal.

An emergency general meeting of shareholders on August 11 is being recommended to accept a 600p per share offer.

The bid comes from Bidco, a special purpose vehicle backed by Rutland Fund Management Ltd, a new management company established by the former management team of London-based Rutland Trust PLC.

About 700 workers in Darwen and Todmorden have been assured that their jobs are not under threat.

If the deal goes through, Wolstenholme Rink will retain its name, but be re-structured into two entirely separate businesses -- one operating in Pigments and Coatings and the other in Printing Supplies.

The business will cease to be listed on the stock exchange.

Mr Michael Langdon, chairman of Rutland Fund Management Ltd, said today: "Both these businesses face particularly challenging markets but I believe that with Rutland's direct management involvement working alongside the operating management, each business has the opportunity to prosper over the medium term."

He added: "We would like to see the size of the business and the workforce increasing."

Rutland intends to build the company up over the next two to four years and then sell it on.

Wolstenholme Rink, which issued a profit warning on May 18, has suffered from adverse trading conditions in the UK and overseas.

The announcement signals the end of one era and the beginning of a new one for the Rink family, which is well-known in Bolton.

Popular local businessman Tony Rink, who was chairman and chief executive, died unexpectedly in December last year.

His brother Paul and son Andrew are to continue in the new business with a minority interest.

Bidco aims to acquire the 352,464 Wolstenholme Rink shares owned by Paul Rink and the Rink family.

The share price of 445p on July 11 increased to 600p following the announcement that an approach had been made.

Mr Rodger (correct) Booth, Chairman of Wolstenholme Rink, said today: "We are pleased that the approach made by Rutland has resulted in an offer which allows shareholders to realise their investment in Wolstenholme Rink at a significant premium to the average market price that has prevailed over recent months.

"We are also pleased that Wolstenholme Rink is to be provided with the opportunity to develop fully in the private arena."

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Tie-in story

Paul Rink senior, who died in 1978, was an Austrian refugee from the Nazis who arrived in Britain just before the last war with hardly a penny to his name.

He had previously run a bronze powder factory near Vienna with his father Ernst, who had learned the trade in Bavaria.

This knowledge enabled Paul Rink to become involved in 1939 with John Wolstenholme.

It was the start of Wolstenholme Bronze Powders, a company which moved to Sharples, Bolton in 1941 and became a highly successful enterprise.

It remained in Bolton until 1988 when Tony and Paul, the founder's sons, moved the growing concern to Darwen and expanded its interests in support of international printing and printing ink industries.