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ACQUISITIONS
Apogee’s acquisition of Balreed
Digitec Group, a deal 12 months in
the making, has created the UK’s
largest independent pan-European
provider of managed services
for print, document and process
technology.
Established in 1993 by Jason Collins
and Barry Ferdinand, Apogee Corporation
has enjoyed sustained, year-on-year
growth through a combination of organic
growth and strategic acquisitions.
The firm started to purchase
complementary businesses in the late
1990s, starting with Flag Copiers, then
Crawley-based F Smith, London-based
City Business Machines and Accuracy
Business Machines, a successful dealership
in Westergate, West Sussex. So far, Apogee
has completed more than 20 deals.
The Balreed acquisition is its biggest
to date. Balreed has an installed MIF
of 15,000 and a £45 million run rate,
which, when combined with Apogee’s
installed UK base of 25,000 devices and
a £75 million run rate, creates a business
with a £120 million annual turnover.
Apogee’s European arm, headquartered in
France, adds a further £30 million to the
pot, helping Apogee towards its goal of
becoming a £200 million business within
the next five years.
In line with all previous transactions,
Balreed’s business will be wholly merged
into Apogee’s operations and will trade
under the Apogee brand. Balreed Founder
Robin Stanton-Gleaves will join the board
as Joint CEO, working alongside Joint CEO
Jason Collins. Balreed’s Gary Downey will
join the board as Group Marketing Director
and Apogee Co-Founder Barry Ferdinand
will take on a new Non-Exec Director role.
Synergies
There are many synergies between the
two businesses. Both provide hardware
and software from multiple manufacturers,
including Ricoh, Canon, Konica Minolta,
Kyocera and Xerox, but they will now
do so on a much greater scale. This, says
Downey, will benefit customers of both
organisations.
“There are lots of areas where Apogee
will add scale to our existing operations
and where we will add value and bring
new capabilities to benefit all customers,”
he said.
“For example, Balreed is arguably one
of the UK’s leading providers of managed
services. We have established a reputation
for innovation in this field and we have a
mature, remote monitoring operation in
place. The pro-active managed services we
have developed will remain a key focus
for the new enlarged Apogee Group and
we will further expand that operation to
deliver the full experience to every Apogee
client. In particular, we will be able to offer
clients with pan-European operations, the
opportunity to receive the same pro-active
remote care and management of their
print technology, regardless of where they
have a base. And it will all be managed
from the UK.”
Another of Balreed’s strengths,
explains Downey, is its dedicated
production print unit. “Apogee has
enjoyed some success within this sector,
but it isn’t a key area of focus. We have
a dedicated team that spans pre-sales,
sales, remote monitoring and service, with
specialist expertise in digital production
presses and in-depth knowledge of clients
in this space,” he said.
Downey adds that Balreed’s expertise
Apogee
acquires Balreed
in these areas will help Apogee to sustain
its growth in the UK and Europe. “It’s
about taking on the best elements from
both businesses, leveraging the synergies
and best-of-breed to meet future growth
plans,” he said.
He expects much of the future growth
to come from Europe. Apogee has a
total of eight offices in France, a German
operation and a presence in a further
six countries. “We now have a real
opportunity to build on what’s already in
place, to extend our service to customers
looking for a single provider to roll out
and manage their print and document
management infrastructure Europe-wide.
It’s an exciting proposition; we will be the
first truly independent provider to offer
that,” he said.
Consolidation
There are a number of merger details still
to be finalised, not least what will happen
to the companies’ combined portfolio of 19
UK offices, but for now, says Downey, the
focus is very much on business as usual.
“It’s likely that there will be some
consolidation – there will inevitably be
some areas of duplication and some of the
physical offices will close as a result of the
acquisition. However, the plan is very much
to build the business up rather than scale
it down, so we don’t expect too much to
change in the short-term,” he said.
“We will carry on exactly as we’ve
always done, providing clients with the
exact same service levels. But we’re now in
a great position to up the ante, targeting
a whole new client base of organisations
that are looking for more capacity and
coverage. It’s our default to grow.”
Gary Downey, group marketing director
There are
lots of
areas where
Apogee will
add scale to
our existing
operations
and where
we will add
value and
bring new
capabilities
PITR
talks to Gary Downey about Apogee’s acquisition of Balreed
