Private equity firm backs print services acquisition
PRINT services business Apogee Corporation, which has a major operation in Wakefield, has acquired an Irish bolt-on company with the backing of private equity house Equistone.
£75m-turnover business Apogee has bought Hibernian Business Equipment, based in Limerick in County Tipperary. It has offices in Dublin and Glasgow.
The acquisition allows Apogee for the first time to enter the Irish market.
Apogee has been on the acquisition trail having completed deals in Scotland, Wales and Germany.
Its relationship with Equistone launched in September when it acquired a stake in the Kent-based business, valuing it at £185m.
Jason Collins, Apogee joint-chief executive, said: “Apogee already has a number of Irish clients who historically we supported through our mainland-based resources and partners, but through this acquisition we now have a new operational base in Ireland.
” Hibernian is a really strong, well developed business with great coverage, operations and technical expertise and I’m really pleased that we have completed the acquisition. I’m also delighted that Gerald Wall, who founded the Hibernian business 25 years ago, will lead the new Apogee business in Ireland as we integrate Hibernian into the Apogee Group.”
Gerald Wall, Hibernian’s managing director, commented: “This is an exciting time for all the team at Hibernian. The business has grown at a terrific rate in recent years and we have secured some great clients but as part of Apogee we will have an even more compelling offering in the marketplace.
“Access to Apogee’s range of unique agreements, increased purchasing power and specialist resources of project management and professional services will help us compete for larger organisations and I’m looking forward to winning new business as part of the Apogee Group.”
