Moonpig.com owner Photobox bought by Electra and Exponent for £400 million

The owner of Moonpig.com, the personalised greetings card firm, has popped two new welcome cards in the post after it was sold to private equity group Electra and Big Bus Tour operator Exponent for around £400 million.

Photobox, which bought Moonpig in 2011 and also owns Papershaker and Posterjack, will be acquired by the duo after a consortium of early venture capital backers cashed in their stakes.

Electra, which is under siege from activist investor Edward Bramson over a boardroom dispute, has invested £89 million of equity in the deal, while Exponent has added a similar sum of equity. The rest of the deal is debt.

“Photobox is the market leader in Europe and is uniquely placed due to its scale to capture further growth as the macro trend for personalised gifts continues,” Electra partner Bill Priestley said.

London-based Photobox, led by chief executive Stan Laurent, enlisted financial advisers earlier this year for a stock market float valuing it at up to £500m, but instead asked Goldman Sachs to find a buyer after markets dived.