Express cheque-out for print firm boss

DOCUMENT Express – an Oldham-based supplier of print and photocopying services and equipment – has been sold to Lincoln-based Danwood Group for an undisclosed sum.

Document Express (DEX) was owned by managing director Peter Bedford and its last filed accounts show a pre-tax profit of over £400,000 on sales of £9.8m.
It employed more than 50 people and was the leading concessionaire of the Xerox brand in the UK, with offices in Oldham, Liverpool and Leeds.

Acquirer Danwood is a Lincoln-based print management specialist with a turnover of almost £200m which is owned by its management and backed by private equity firm Bregal Capital.

Graham Reeve, MD of Danwood said: “We are naturally delighted to have secured such a successful operation as Document Express and it will be a great geographic addition to both our northern region and overall UK operations.”

Pete Bedford, MD of Document Express said: “We are excited by the prospect of growing the DEX business with the support of Danwood.  As Managed Print Service partner of the year, we are looking forward working with Xerox going forward”.

Bedford was advised on the sale by the Manchester office of accountancy firm Mazars and by law firm DWF.

Peter Terry, corporate finance partner at Mazars,said: “It has been a pleasure to work with the Document Express team over the past few months and we are delighted to have secured the right deal for them.  They are a quality management team who have created a dominant market position for DEX.”

Frank Shephard, corporate partner at DWF said “We are delighted to have been able to advise the DEX team on the next stage of their development. This deal will allow DEX and Danwood to accelerate their growth using the skills brought by both organisations.”