Onesource chief executive Evan Johnson says the move follows the decision by Onesource owners, Hanover Group, to focus on their core finance business.
“Our shareholders have an open mind as to sale options, for example an IPO, a management buy out or trade sale,” Johnson says.
He says both the group’s operating subsidiaries, Konica Minolta and Cogent Communications, are fighting fit following three years of investment and development. The result has been a clear and stable strategy, with profitable growth from well defined areas of core business, and high levels of sustainable annuity revenue.
The most significant new development, he says, has been with the Onesource document solutions business, U-Bix, which has been merged into a new and larger joint venture with Konica Minolta Japan. Onesource owns 90 percent of the new merged company – Konica Minolta Business Solutions New Zealand Limited – and Konica Minolta Japan has a ten percent shareholding. This new Onesource subsidiary combines the 350 staff and $90 million turnover of U-Bix Document Solutions with the 100 staff and $25 million annualised revenue of Konica Minolta’s former New Zealand subsidiary, Konica Minolta Business Solutions Ltd. The balance date for Onesource is June 30 – therefore the full benefit of the additional revenue from the former Konica Minolta subsidiary will not be received until next year.
“This closer relationship with Konica Minolta Japan is highly strategic to our growth going forward,” Johnson says. “There’s a quiet revolution going on in the office with desktop printers and standalone copiers being replaced by a single, networked multi-function device, capable of printing and copying in both black and white and colour. Much of our growth in the past year has been because of our strong product offerings in this area – and this major technology shift is still gaining momentum.”
At the same time, Johnson says, new market segments are being developed – for example the high-end digital printing market.
“Just as our multi-function devices are taking over from traditional laser printers and copiers in the office, the same new technology is putting pressure on high-end printing traditionally done using offset printing machines. Through our relationship with suppliers such as Oce and Konica Minolta we’re starting to penetrate this market and we expect major new revenue streams as a result.”
At Cogent Communications, the second Onesource operating subsidiary, the news is also good, Johnson says.
“Over the past 12 months Cogent has achieved a dramatic turnaround, trading losses and flat revenue into growth and strong profitability. This has been achieved through a tight focus on selling and installing digital PABX phone systems which are easily integrated with customers’ computer networks and deliver VoIP capability for future-proofed solutions. Particularly good progress has been made selling into the small to medium enterprise market, with exciting recent growth of complex solutions into larger corporates.”
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