YORK software company Trustmarque Solutions has been bought in a £43 million management buyout.

Trustmarque, which employs more than 180 people across its offices at Monks Cross,York, Bracknell and Edinburgh, has been bought by private equity house Dunedin from previous investors LDC.

The £130 million-turnover business said the investment would enable it to expand its service offering and customer base.

Mark Ligertwood, partner at Dunedin, said: “We are pleased to be investing in Trustmarque, a highly successful market-leader with a clearly positioned brand and an exceptional reputation within both the commercial and public sectors.

"The UK market for software and IT services is currently worth an estimated £40 billion and is expected to grow at 2 per cent to five per cent to 2016. The UK’s IT market is second only in size to that of the US and Japan and the growth opportunities are significant as private and public organisations invest in the latest products to increase business efficiency.

“Trustmarque has earned extensive market recognition for its performance to date and this is very much to the credit of its first class management team. We share their vision for the continued transformation of the business and look forward to working with them.”

Scott Haddow, chief executive of Trustmarque, said: “Dunedin’s investment is a key milestone in the evolution of the business. Trustmarque has developed significantly over the last four years.

"Our ambition now is to cement our position as an independent end-to-end technology services provider and the trusted adviser of choice for blue chip and large government enterprises."

Under LDC’s ownership, Trustmarque transformed from an IT reseller into providing solutions which enabled organisations to be more efficient and reduce their IT costs. It grew service-driven revenues to 33 per cent of turnover from a standing start, and has increased employment from 110 in 2009 to more than 180.