Konica Minolta has bought Australian-based $200m print management company Ergo Asia as part of its global strategy to diversify its business into marketing services.
The deal with Ergo comes after the digital printer manufacturer bought Charterhouse, a similar company to Ergo but which covers Europe, the Middle East and Africa, in 2012. It says the two brands will make it one of the world’s biggest marketing print management providers, with clients in more than 30 countries.
Ergo was founded in Australia only 10 years ago by its current chief executive Eugene Cora, and now has annual Australian sales of more than $100m, with operations in Australia and throughout South-East Asia and China.
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Cora says the company will continue running in its existing locations as a largely independent operation under Konica Minolta ownership, and all 180 staff will be retained.
“We are keeping our name and the senior management team are all staying. Our valued clients should not notice any changes to the day to day running of Ergo Asia,” he says.
Cora was unavailable for further comment, but more information is expected to be available soon.
Ergo’s Australian sales grew by 29.8 per cent to $100.3m in 2012, though net profit fell 9.5 per cent to $2.1m.
Though about 60 per cent of its revenue was from Australia, most of its growth is offshore and likely now only accounts for 50-55 per cent, as predicted by Cora last year.
The company won a more than $25m-a-year contract with Coles in 2012, its biggest customer, a $10m one with Centrelink in 2010, and in 2013 managed more than 1000 suppliers.
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Konica Minolta says its clients now expect manufacturers to add value by offering new approaches and services to sales and marketing efforts.
“Demand for digital printing systems for production print is increasing, and Konica Minolta will benefit from closer links with production printers as a result of acquiring Ergo,” it says.
Ergo was founded by Cora in 2004 and now has a rapidly growing reach across the region in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and New Zealand.
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