The Brisbane firm will take over Caboolture rival Nicholson Printers as a going concern on 31 October.
Managing director Tom Eckersley told ProPrint the cash deal included the lease, a client list of about 480 names and all the equipment, including two Heidelberg GTOs and two Fuji Xerox digital printers. He declined to reveal how much the acquisition had cost.
Print Approach bought the client list of liquidated Brisbane firm ABC Printing in May, which Eckersley forecast would boost revenue from just over $2 million to about $3 million. He said the Nicholson deal would increase turnover to $4 million “with plenty of capacity” for further growth.
Eckersley said the acquisition fit into two Print Approach strategies: eyeing less saturated regions and using a growth in traditional printing to fund a move into higher-margin sectors.
[Related: company profile of Print Approach]
“We’re making a concerted effort in developing business north of here up to the southern tip of the Sunshine Coast. There aren’t that many printers in that area,” he said.
Eckersley told ProPrint that the two shops would be run on a hub-and-spoke model.
Caboolture will send its manufacturing to Brisbane, although it will retain the capacity to produce jobs that require overnight turnarounds.
The Caboolture plant will also handle all large-format printing and will also house Roominate, the interior design division scheduled to launch in late 2012.
Eckersley said offers of employment would be made to Nicholson’s eight staff and that the business would change its name to Print Approach in about six months once clients were familiarised with the handover.
“All the clients will transfer over and there will be no loss of service to any clients. That will be as seamless as we can make it and then we will bring a new range of services to the client base,” he said.
Print Approach has no plans for further acquisitions, but will keep its eyes open, said Eckersley.
“We’ll bed this one down, but it’s an ongoing strategy, without a doubt.”
[Related: behind-the-scenes photos on Facebook]
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