A team from the Leeds office advised Warwick International in a buyout led by Close Brothers Private Equity.

Wales-based Warwick has two divisions, one of which manufacturers bleach activators mainly for use in domestic detergents, while the other is a chemical distribution business operating in Europe and the Far East.

The firm is owned by Sequa Corporation, a New York industrial group which was until recently listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Negotiations for the Warwick deal started in early 2007 but were put on hold for a while when Sequa itself was taken over by US private equity house Carlyle.

Andrew Jordan, corporate partner with Gordons: "I have known Warwick's senior management for many years and am delighted for them with this outcome.

"We were all reasonably confident that Sequa would sell the business. The challenge was always going to be steering the process towards a buyer who the directors really wanted to partner with, and getting the deal done in today's tightened climate."

Bob Ellis, chief executive of Warwick International, said: "Gordons did an excellent job in helping to secure management's equity share and guiding us through the private equity investment process."

The deal also involved the Manchester offices of DLA Piper, Deloitte, Hammonds and Addleshaw Goddard, and the London office of US law firm Latham and Watkins.