Jo Francis, the Contributing Editor at PrintWeek (UK) who has been following and reporting on developments
with Service Point UK, emailed me this morning to let me know that a Press
Release was received by her; that Press Release announces that Service Point UK has been acquired by the Paragon Group.
Here’s a link to the Press Release that Jo Francis forwarded to me:
Update: Here’s
a link to the article now up on PrintWeek about the acquisition:
Blog Publisher’s comments:
After Jo Francis mentioned, in an earlier article she wrote, that
the Paragon Group “has emerged as the mostly likely purchaser” of SP UK, I did
a bit of research on the Paragon Group, and, down below (below my comments) you’ll find what I found about the Paragon Group
(and about its UK subsidiary, Paragon Group UK).
Speaking frankly, I don’t see where Service Point UK fits into the
Paragon Group’s business, given that SP UK is primarily involved in providing
services (both on-site and off-site) from firms involved in the A/E/C
Industry. (Note: it is my understanding, based on past
financial reports issued by Service Point Solutions, former parent of SP UK,
that SP UK derives a majority of its revenues from the A/E/C Industry.)
It appears that the Paragon Group derives most of its revenues from
print, fulfillment and logistics – but/and I didn’t see anything that would
indicate that Paragon serves the A/E/C Industry.
So, to me, Paragon Group’s acquisition of SP UK represents an
extension of Paragon Group’s business beyond its core business; what many, if
not all, would refer to as “pure diversification”. Even though SP UK generated (per a previous
PrintWeek article) revenues exceeding $67 mil (USD) in 2012, it could well be
that Paragon Group paid a very small sum to acquire SP UK and, if that’s the
case, then we can characterize the deal as an “opportunistic” acquisition.
Congratulations to Paragon Group on the completion of the deal, and
good luck and best wishes on what appears to be your first foray into the
reprographics business/industry.
The information that follows came from two different web-sites.
Paragon
Group
• Manufacturing sites in 3 countries
• €168m turnover (2012) [Note: previous article in PrintWeek
said Paragon Group’s revenues (turnover) is €141mil; the €168 mil number comes
from Paragon Group’s web-site]
• 22 Locations throughout Europe
• A network of Worldwide sales
• Over 125 Years of delivering success
The Paragon Group is a privately
owned company, which can trace its origins back to 1886. We operate
12 manufacturing sites in the UK, France and Romania and have partners in
the Netherlands and Portugal.
Today’s global
brands demand a world-wide delivery network that is able to meet both central
and local marketing communication requirements.
Paragon has a
dynamic and scalable global operating platform that has been strategically
built over 100 years. We support multiple geographies, time zones and cultures
and we have a unified infrastructure that successfully delivers to over 70
countries.
Our strong
presence in the UK, and France is supported by a low-cost manufacturing plant
in Romania and a regional sales office in Germany. The breadth of our services
and manufacturing facilities ensure we have proven capability in the key
geographies on every continent.
Paragon Group Management Team:
Patrick Crean. Chief Executive
Officer
CEO, co-founder
and major shareholder since 1998
Previously Group
Operations Director and a member of the founding executive team of Adare
Printing Group plc; senior positions at Clondalkin, a leading Irish print and
packaging group.
Laurent Salmon. Finance Director
Joined as Group
Finance Director in 2000.
Previously Financial
Director for Quebecor Worldcolor in Europe; Duracell in France; Xerox
Corporation in the US; originally trained with Deloitte and Touche.
Laurent Estival. Vice President
Group Operations
Joined in 2007
as Identification Operation director then move as the group operation director
in 2010, Prior to Paragon held operations and manufacturing management roles in
leading companies in the High tech and Car industries: JDS Uniphase, SHELA and
Valeo.
Paragon Group UK (subsidiary of Paragon Group)
With
offices throughout Great Britain, Paragon UK is a print provider capable of
creating and developing bespoke documents for our clients. Working with
businesses of all sizes, we provide a range of products and services including
business print; operational print; pressure seal machinery, documents and
servicing; warehousing and logistics; pick and pack; personalisation and
e-commerce based ordering platforms and catalogues.
As a business, Paragon UK aims to exceed customer
expectations through providing best in class service and a range of products
that we are proud of. As a result of this approach, Paragon UK continues to
grow and build on its success through key acquisition and product innovation.
As well as offering printed products and supporting
services, we also provide our clients with specialist support. This can focus
on a number of areas including business process outsourcing, cost reduction
exercises or print management services.
Paragon UK is a member of the Paragon Group, a
European Group with operations in France and Romania. Paragon Group is a
privately held business with the autonomy and ambition to continue with its
expansion plans, retaining its position as a leading print provider throughout
the UK and Europe.
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