Ergo Asia, now with Konica Minolta’s backing, plans to continue to expand
Ergo Asia, Australian-based print management company, says it will use the financial muscle and client base of its new parent, Konica Minolta, to drive ahead its Asia Pacific expansion. Eugene Cora, CEO of Ergo Asia, says the company has had significant growth in recent years despite the contracting print market, and both profits and revenue continue to climb. The print manager currently has offices in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and New Zealand, and at last count was approaching $200m turnover.
Eugene Cora, CEO of Ergo Asia
Cora says the existing operations will continue running as an independent business under Konica Minolta ownership – with plans for expansion beyond the Asia Pacific to the global marketplace. He also says the terms of the acquisition guarantee Ergo’s independence in selecting print partners and it will not need to preference printers using Konica Minolta equipment. While Konica Minolta acquired the company as part of its global diversification plan, Toshitaka Uemura, professional print planning general manager, says Ergo will also provide a touch point to KM’s clients to allow it to better gauge their needs. He says, “We will also have wider communication with production printers to understand their processes from upper stream. Both these voices of clients will improve our services, solutions and products generally that we offer. “Demand for digital printing systems for commercial print is increasing, and Konica Minolta will benefit from closer links with commercial printers as a result of acquiring Ergo.” Uemura says the acquisition is a logical consequence to Konica Minolta’s expansion into the marketing print management sector with its 2012 Charterhouse buy. He says clients now expect manufacturers to add value by offering new approaches to sales and marketing efforts, and deploying print management services globally will meet and exceed this demand. Cora says Konica Minolta approached Ergo around a year ago about a potential acquisition, and the two companies looked at many options before settling on the current arrangement.
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