One of the most famous names in British industry, Crown Paints, will soon be back under British ownership after a £70 million private equity buyout.

Endless, the UK-based investment fund, is buying the paint supplier which is a favourite with the painting and decorating trade.

Lancashire-based Crown Paints is currently the number two paint brand in the UK and Ireland after Dulux.

However, its owner Akzo Nobel was forced to sell the company after its £8 billion takeover of ICI at the end of last year gave it ownership of both brands and a 50 per cent share of the market.

Dulux has about 45 per cent of the British paint market and Crown has about 15 per cent.

However, about 60 per cent of Crown's business is supplying the building trade and the new management team believes there is room to push the brand much harder to challenge Dulux's position.

Graham Hallworth chairman-designate at Crown, said: "This business has struggled for management focus and exposure as part of an international conglomerate. We see a real opportunity for growth, despite the curren market environment."

Endless is buying Crown, shirt-sponsor of Blackburn Rovers FC, at the height of the credit crunch when the housing market has virtually ground to a halt and housebuilding has stalled across the country, because of the difficulties of obtaining mortgages.

Mr Hallworth said the difficult conditions were reflected in the price paid for the company but said he was optimistic that Crown would ride out the property market slump.

The chairman, who was involved in the buyouts of Homestyle and Fads DIY chains during the recession in the early 1990s, said that in his experience people still carry on spending money on refurbishing and painting their home, at times when the property market is stagnant.

"That's what happened in the last property market downturn and I can't see it would be any different this time," Mr Hallworth said.

Warwick Ley, managing director of Endless, who will be a director of the business, said the company planned to invest heavily in the company's production facilities, modernising sites and redeveloping the group's 126 Crown Decorating Centres - the company's distribution network to the building trade.

The sale of Crown is conditional on European Commission approval which is expected in 4 to 8 weeks' time.

ICI’s shares delisted from the London market six months ago following the Akzo takeover, ending 82 years of independence for arguably the most famous name in British industry.

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