Apogee acquisitions set to continue after it splashes out in Scotland

Managed print firm acquires DBS after making Welsh and German acquisitions earlier this year

Managed print giant Apogee is expecting to complete its fourth acquisition of the year next month after announcing its purchase of Scotland-based Direct Business Systems (DBS) today.

Apogee acquired German Canon partner BAS Burosysteme and Welsh MSP kon-x Wales earlier this year, and later received funding from private equity firm Equistone Partners Europe last month.

Today's DBS buy is the third of the year, with the fourth due to be finalised next month, according to Apogee's group marketing director Gary Downey, who could not disclose in which region the acquisition would be made.

"There is a large area of London, the south east and the home counties where a high proportion of business is done so that's important to us, but we want to make sure we can deliver the same consistent services out into [other] regions, so the acquisition in Wales and this one ticks that off," he said.

"The German acquisition is very much about us growing that network across northern Europe, so we are continuing to look for acquisitions that would fit that strategy.

"We're still actively looking across Europe and then equally in the UK we have an open mind and we're looking for anything that complements our core services or can give us an opportunity to acquire extra skills or customer bases."

Downey explained that the acquisition of DBS will allow Apogee to expand its relatively small presence in Scotland, while also giving DBS' clients access to a range of Apogee services they would not have had before.

DBS currently offers printers, photocopiers and scanners from providers Ricoh, Sharp, Samsung and Olivetti.

Managing director Eric Chambers will continue to run Glasgow-based DBS but the name is set to disappear as it is integrated with Apogee.