Blue Star is making its third point-of-sale acquisition in a row and kickstarting a push into Asia with the buyout of Sydney printer POS Collective.
The award-winning company will be absorbed into Blue Star’s rapidly growing wide format arm when the deal closes in about four weeks, with at least half of its 50 staff and all its kit moving to the former STI Lilyfield site in Padstow, NSW which now houses Blue Star Retail Display.
Buying POS Collective is a coup for Blue Star following its acquisitions of STI Lilyfield and Thompsons POS as it aggressively expands into wide format from very little less than a year ago.
It will take on a huge range of blue chip clients including Bupa, Calvin Klein, Dick Smith, Dior, IGA, Johnson & Johnson, Kellogg’s, Microsoft, Nestle, Optus, oOh! Media, Samsung, and David Jones.
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Blue Star chief operating officer Matt Aitken says the buyout is part of an ongoing growth strategy ‘to create a formidable offering for retailers and marketers in the retail marketing space in Australia’.
“The impressive and complimentary client list is one of the factors that drew us to POS Collective and we look forward to offering them a wider array of services throughout the group,” he says.
The deal also immediately gives Blue Star a strong presence in Asia as 70 per cent of POS Collective’s production is outsourced through Guangzhou, China for both Australian and regional clients.
Aitken says the company will now have a well-established offshore supply chain to provide better service to its clients.
“POS Collective’s business was built around its strong offshore capability and we certainly see this is as a key part of our strategy and we would like to have a bigger presence in the region,” he says.
Aitken says Blue Star will use offshore production for Australian clients that need it, or Asian distribution for multinational businesses.
POS Collective director Ashay Sharma says the company has a dedicated sales team in Guangzhou and outsources to several local printers, with clients in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, and India along with a few in Britain and USA.
“It is a growing trend for us to do more work in the Asian market and it is a key strategy for our growth we will continue with Blue Star,” he says.
“The alignment in growth strategy for both businesses makes this acquisition a perfect fit. We want to aggressively grow, and leveraging their financial and production power will enable us to do that.”
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Sharma and one of the other four directors James Camilleri will stay on, while Greg Edkins and Zac Bank will stick around for the initial 3-6 month transition phase before moving on to other interests.
POS Collective’s assets include a wide range of gear to add to Blue Star’s stable including a HP Scitex FB10000, a HP Latex 3000 and 2500, two HP Latex 360s, a HP Z6100 and LX600, and an Oce Arizona – all of which will move to Blue Star.
Blue Star will licence POS Collective’s workflow management platform ExciteHUB for use in its wide format arm, but will not get ownership of it from the deal.
POS Collective is the winner of three gold, one silver, and three bronze Point-of-Purchase Advertising International awards in 2013 and 2014.
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