Apogee is an office equipment supplier and managed print services provider that also provides a number of outsourced services in the commercial print sector. Its equipment line-up includes a number of production printers, wide-format systems and finishing machines.
The £250m-turnover organisation is the largest European OEM partner for both Canon and Ricoh, alongside partnerships with Samsung, Xerox and Konica Minolta. At the time of writing it was not clear how these relationships would be affected by the Apogee buy, expected by the end of 2018.
HP expects the deal to help it move further into the office printing sector, citing A3 and A4 printing as opportunities for growth.
“The Apogee acquisition extends HP’s print leadership by boldly leveraging the industry shift to contractual sales as we aggressively pursue the A3 office market,” said imaging and print president Enrique Lores.
“We’re augmenting our go-to-market and enhancing our ability to deliver the services necessary to win in the profitable contractual market. This deal complements our broader channel strategy and HP remains committed to building our business through our best-in-class partner program.”
Apogee currently employs 1,000 members of staff and operates out of headquarters in Maidstone, Kent.
In recent years, it made a number of acquisitions of its own – including its rival Danwood Group, Canon reseller Clarke Office Solutions and Glasgow-based office systems provider Direct Business Systems.
The majority of Apogee’s revenue is generated under long-term contracts for the delivery and sale of hardware and services, including supplies and other printing and process related solutions. HP described an “attractive opportunity” to win A3 and A4 business over time as these contracts gradually come up for renewal.
Once the acquisition deal closes, Apogee will operate as an independent subsidiary with a board made up of HP and Apogee management.
Apogee operations also include graphic design and creative print, hybrid mail, and project management. Their respective sizes and statuses following the acquisition were not clear.
HP Inc’s stock stood at $23.21 (£17.80) at the time of writing.
