Paper merchant BJ Ball is set to step up its presence in the wide format market by acquiring family owned business Access Paper ‘in a significant step in its growth strategy’ with the deal effective May 1. Access Paper specialises in screen print and wide format digital, as well as an extensive range of rigid and flexible media, including flute board, foamboards, screenboards, self adhesives, banner vinyls, synthetic papers, paper and cards. The family run business, which was established in 1993, has sales and distribution sites in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, which will eventually merge with BJ Ball sites.
Speaking with Australian Printer, Tony Bertrand, BJ Ball marketing and business development manager, says the acquisition has been in the pipeline for a while and when the ‘minds were in sync it came to fruition’. Bertrand says, “It is part of our growth strategy for 2015, which is not only through acquisitions but also organically. This is an exciting time as Access Paper has established itself as a major force in the market and the acquisition is great news for their customers as well as BJ Ball clients, who will enjoy more options and services. “All six employees of Access Paper will be offered jobs with BJ Ball and this will ensure our service providing capabilities in the wide format digital market will get stronger.” Domain Pocock, owner of Access Paper says, “Access Paper has been a family run business for 23 years with more than 200 clients on our list.” He says early on they identified the need to have the ‘ability to supply large format paper, board and synthetics, as existing suppliers were not catering for what we could see was a growing market’. Pocock says, “We established a wide range of flexible and rigid media for the wide format market in both screen and digital. We have always viewed this market as our core business and now coming into BJ Ball – Digital Media we are looking forward to growing the support of our customers with a broader range of products and services. “I would like to thank our staff, our loyal customers and suppliers and for the many years of support. We are looking forward to this new chapter under BJ Ball.” Craig Brown, CEO of BJ Ball group, says the acquisition of Access Paper will further strengthen BJ Ball’s share in the wide format market and is part of BJ Ball’s growth strategy within the industry. Brown says, “Access Paper have been a fantastic distribution partner for BJ Ball for many years and we look forward to this acquisition accelerating our push into the wide format market. We successfully launched our digital media division in June of last year, and believe the Access Paper acquisition will greatly benefit our combined customer base with additional supply lines, converting capabilities and sales expertise. This news follows BJ Balls recent acquisition of API Foils in Australia and New Zealand earlier in March and Longbottom Digital Paper in late 2014.
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