Service Point Announces an agreement to acquire Holmbergs, a Sweden-based reprographics company with additional operations in Denmark

Last July 1^st, we posted a brief article on Reprographics 101 that included mention of a Press Release issued by Service Point on June 29^th, and, in that Press Release, Service Point announced that it was going to renew its “Merger and Acquisition” initiatives.

Well, true to its word, Service Point has, in fact, renewed its M&A activities. Today, Service Point issued a Press Release to announce its upcoming (still-to-be-closed) acquisition of Holmbergs, a large reprographer based in Sweden with additional operations in Denmark.

Based on the information revealed in the Press Release, it looks like this is just the first of several acquisitions SP plans to make in Scandinavia.

Here’s the Press Release that Service Point issued today:

Press release

Service Point to acquire Holmbergs of Sweden, reinforcing its leadership position in Scandinavia and resuming its M&A-led growth strategy

• SPS is entering the Swedish and Danish markets with the acquisition of Holmbergs, a company with annual revenue of €14 million

• SPS’s plan is to build a Scandinavian business with turnover of €100 million over the coming years. The company is currently in active talks with targets in Sweden, Finland and Denmark

• This acquisition will generate significant synergies across the SPS Group, especially with its successful Norwegian arm through the rollout in Sweden of the online strategies deployed in 2010 (www.idekor.no)

• The acquisition will close following completion of the equity raise to be approved at the shareholder meeting called for 21st February

• The acquisition price will be 5 times audited 2010 EBITDA. The target boasts solid cash flow generation and net cash of more than €1 million

January 21st, 2011 – Service Point Solutions SA (ticker: SPS.MC) has signed an agreement for the acquisition of 100% of the shares of Holmbergs i Malmö AB (“Holmbergs”), the leading provider of document and information management solutions in southern Sweden (Malmo and Lund) and north Denmark (Copenhagen). The acquisition will close following completion of the equity issue to be submitted for approval by the company’s shareholders at an Extraordinary General Meeting called for February 21st 2011.

Holmbergs was founded in Malmo in 1904. In 2010 the company generated €14 million in high-quality revenue, i.e., revenue which translates into recurring cash flow generation. There is currently €1 million in cash on the company’s books. Holmbergs’ outstanding earnings performance is being driven by the company’s experienced management team. The company is a leading supplier of document and information management solutions to multinationals which headquarter their pan-Scandinavian operations in Holmbergs’ area of influence. In addition to its strong positioning in the multinational niche, the company is also well positioned in the advertising and education segments, the latter being one of the Service Point’s targeted growth businesses. Holmbergs has successfully built up a fast- growing print-on-demand business which dovetails with Service Point’s strategic approach.

Holmbergs currently employs around 100 people. This transaction delivers the following SPS objectives:

· A reinforced platform in Scandinavia with first-class international clients Sweden is the European nation expected to post the fastest GDP growth in 2011

· Consolidation of SPS’s value proposition in the education and corporate segments and in the print-on-demand business

· Acquisition of a business that boasts strong cash flow and recurring revenue generation with scope for synergy generation as part of the Service Point Group, particularly with the Norwegian business,

· Holmbergs marks Service Point’s first acquisition since 2008. Since then the company has undertaken an ambitious restructuring program which has reduced the group’s headcount by 20%, cut operating expenses by another 20% and led to the strategic prioritisation of relationship management.

· The acquisition will boost SPS’s revenue by 6% and its EBITDA by 9% according to the business plan to be presented to the company’s shareholders in general meeting on 21 February. Moreover, the transaction is significantly accretive in terms of earnings per share.

According to Juan José Nieto, Chairman of Service Point, “As we said in our business plan, the company is looking to increase its presence in Scandinavia, a market which has performed spectacularly well in the past two years despite the challenging economic and business backdrop. In 2010 our Norwegian subsidiary posted the strongest earnings performance in its 50-year history. The Holmbergs acquisition fits perfectly with this strategy, creating scope for significant synergy generation and the opportunity to service some world-leading multinationals which base their Scandinavian business operations in southern Sweden. This, coupled with the company’s ties with and proximity to Denmark plus an outstanding communications network will help us pick up the pace of organic business growth in the region”.

Service Point Solutions (www.servicepoint.net) is a leading provider of document and information management solutions. It services a broad spectrum of industries, including the AEC, corporate, financial, public services and educations segments. It employs 2,400 people across nine countries (the UK, US, Spain, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, France and Sweden) via a network of 128 service points worldwide and 794 facilities management programs. SPS is headquartered in Spain and listed on the Madrid and Barcelona stock exchanges (ticker: SPS.MC).