The move was officially completed yesterday, 22 September 2014, when the publicly listed HGL Limited announced to the Stock Exchange that Createc Pty Ltd, a 50 per cent joint venture company in the printing sector, had sold the Anitech business and most of its assets to Neopost Australia.
Neopost, formerly GBC Australia, is owned by the French-based Neopost Group, which specialises in mail, shipping and software solutions. The Australian company has long been regarded as a market leader in mailing and print finishing solutions and has experienced significant growth in recent times in the large format sector. In the move, Neopost has not only acquired the assets of Anitech – itself a market leader particularly in the sign, display and AEC markets – but is also adding the majority of the company’s staff to its own teams in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth.
Stuart Macdonald, Managing Director of Neopost Australia, says Anitech is an ‘excellent strategic fit’ for Neopost, with a complementary product range and an extensive service and support structure that will enable Neopost to bring an expanded offering to existing customers of both companies.
“This acquisition is an important move for Neopost as combining these two businesses will allow us to offer our customers access to the trusted brands supplied by Anitech, while offering existing Anitech customers new opportunities provided by our own extensive product range,” Maconald said today.
“We are also fortunate that the majority of Anitech’s staff will be joining the Neopost team, including sales and product specialists and operational staff across administration, purchasing, sales support, customer service, technical service and logistics to provide customers of both companies with a greatly expanded level of expertise, service and support.”
Raj Dang, Sales Director of Neopost elaborates, saying many of Anitech’s staff will be joining a new Sign & Display Division the company is in the process of creating to focus solely on servicing the needs of the wide format print market.
“The Sign & Display Division reflects our expanded involvement in this sector of the market and demonstrates to existing Anitech customers our commitment to their specific requirements,” he said, adding that many of the existing Anitech team will be joining this Division.
“Anitech has an excellent stable of brands like LG, Seiko and KIP, which integrate almost seamlessly with our own offering, which not only includes printers like HP and Jetrix, but a wide range of other products in the mailing, binding, folding and inserting areas,” he adds.
“In this respect, it’s a logical ‘marriage’ of two complementary operations, bringing a very strong proposition to the market.” While there are still details which will have to be finalized, Macdonald says he is delighted with progress so far and excited about the new opportunities this will offer the market. “With this extended product range and even more comprehensive sales and support team, we are building on the strength Neopost Australia already enjoys and bringing a whole suite of benefits to customers of both companies and the wider market,” he said. “We are in for a busy few weeks but are looking forward to the challenges and to meeting with all our customers over the coming weeks and months to discuss with them the very real advantages of this acquisition to their businesses.”
Customers of either company who have questions about the acquisition and its impact can contact their local Neopost office or email the company at a specially created address,
anitech@neopost.com.au