The upcoming Blue Star-IPMG empire just keeps growing, with Blue Star acquiring rival mailhouse iGroup Australia to expand its direct mail capability.
Australia’s third largest printer has bought the client list and selected assets and will integrate the entire operation into its Blue Star DM brand, run out of its Homebush facility, by the end of the month.
The fate of iGroup’s about 60 staff is still being worked out, but Blue Star print and direct mail general manager Matt Aitken says he expects at least 30-40 will be offered jobs at Blue Star.
He says iGroup managing director Paul Tannous will spend the next year or so ensuring clients are maintained and looked after during the transition and will then move into an undetermined senior role in sales and account management. Blue Star DM NSW general manager David Veness will lead the combined operation.
[Related: More mergers and acquisition news]
iGroup, which specialises in multi-channel personalised communications, is one of Australia’s biggest mailhouses with an annual turnover of about $40m-50m but recently dropped its Melbourne operation and, according to industry sources, lost its contract with Telstra.
Aitken says the two businesses are complementary and Tannous was immediately receptive to acquisition discussions when Blue Star first made overtures about five months ago.
“We wanted to increase our direct mail operation and drive consolidation. Less competition is good for the sector, especially with Australia Post’s recent actions,” he says.
“iGroup is a well-known business and a strong competitor of ours in every area of direct mail, and you have to look at competitors when thinking about consolidation.
“This acquisition brings together two outstanding businesses that pride themselves on high levels of customer service, responsiveness, a diverse product offering and innovation.”
Aitken says the acquisition will form a formidable offering for marketers in the direct and one-to-one communication space in Australia.
[Related: More Blue Star news]
“Blue Star is passionate about the personalised one-to-one communications and marketing space, having invested heavily in this area over the past 2-3 years,” he says.
“Our strategy will continue to focus on the growth and expansion of the data and content driven communication services offering we take to market.
“It helps our clients by bringing in talented people and additional multi-channel capability, which iGroup’s clients can be offered more services from printing to creative and logistics.”
Kit Blue Star is bringing over includes inserting, imaging and mail finishing equipment, along with several printers including Fuji Xerox 1000s and iGens. Some of it will be used in Blue Star DM and others may be distributed to other parts of the company.
Tannous says: “The opportunity to bring together two businesses that each have different strengths in traditional DM and digital personalised communications is a great thing for our collective customers and will deliver a broader solutions offering with greater capacity and diversity.”
iGroup merged with Melbourne mailhouse Dynamic Direct last January.
Comment below to have your say on this story.
If you have a news story or tip-off, get in touch at editorial@sprinter.com.au.
Sign up to the Sprinter newsletter