WATERLOO, Iowa --- Waterloo-based copier and printer services company Waterloo Business Systems Inc. and its parent, Mason City Business Systems Inc., has been purchased by St. Cloud, Minn.-based Marco Business Systems Inc., the latter announced Monday.
The buyout represents a step into the Iowa market Marco has coveted and also includes Mason City Business Systems arms in Cedar Rapids, Des Moines and Davenport, the Marco officials said.
Marco now employs 75 people in Iowa. Jason Bradshaw in Mason City oversees the Iowa operations, as he did with Mason City Business Systems.
The buyout will bring no changes in personnel, said Jennifer Mrozek, Marco’s chief financial officer.
“We’d expect over time that we’d actually grow the number of employees we have, since they’re made up of sales and service personnel, and that’s exactly where we intend to grow,” she said.
Mason City Business Systems has marketed itself as a “copier and printer solutions company.” Allen Behning established the firm in 1977. The company services more than 3,000 customers across Iowa, according to Marco.
Marco focuses on voice, data, video and print services.
Jeff Gau, Marco’s chief executive officer, declined to disclose financial terms of the buyout, but he said it was his company’s largest-ever acquisition.
The buyout took effect last Friday, Gau said.
Waterloo Business Systems operates at 2755 University Ave. in Waterloo.
Iowa was a natural marketplace into which Marco could expand its operations, Gau said.
“Our company originated in central Minnesota, and our core competency is expanding into secondary and tertiary markets and, of course, Iowa fits in beautifully with that,” Gau said.
Behning’s plans to retire provided a clean opportunity to move into some desirable markets, Gau said.
“For us to be able to expand in one acquisition makes more sense than trying to do a startup,” Gau said. “Customers are loyal to their local people.”
Marco’s client base includes government agencies, schools, health care organizations and commercial businesses, Gau said.
“Our goal with all of our customers would be to expand that relationship with them,” Gau said.
For the present, branch companies in Iowa will not undergo any name changes, although eventually they may shift to the Marco banner, Gau said. When and how that occurs “depends on the market,” Gau said. “We’re not publicly traded, and we make our decisions very locally.”
The acquisition is Marco’s third over the past four months and has added 109 employees to its work force. Marco employs 570 people in 29 offices in the Upper Midwest.
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