Konica Minolta Business Solutions Australia has acquired two leading service companies as part of its strategy to diversity its business into marketing services.
Konica Minolta said it would broaden the scope of its print and content management services with the acquisition of Knowledge Partners and Stonebridge Systems, two IT organisations specializing in content management and digital solutions.
“The acquisition of Knowledge Partners and Stonebridge Systems is part of our global Transform 2016 strategy, shifting focus from hardware supply and providing products to services and solutions that help customers grow their business,” Shane Blandford, Director of Strategic Business Expansion, Konica Minolta, told Print21.
“After research into the local market, we found the expertise of these two companies provided exceptional synergy with our existing scanning capability in capture and digitisation. The result is to strengthen the position of Konica Minolta as a leader in providing managed content services to our customers.”
Konica Minolta last year bought print management company Ergo Asia as part of its Transform 2016 strategy, and Blandford said more acquisitions are likely.
“We can expect to see more acquisitions in the future as we continue our global strategy and look to expand into new areas as they become relevant to customers,” said Blandford.
Both IT companies have welcomed the move to Konica Minolta. “The integration of Knowledge Partners into Konica Minolta will certainly underpin the future business performance of KP through the combining of complementary resources,” said Carl Lindemann, Director, Knowledge Partners. “The expanded market reach through KMI’s large established customer base and a professional sales network can only strengthen the joint strategic business expansion in the ECM space within which KP has an outstanding track record.”
Knowledge Partners, which has offices in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney, works with a number of different products from various technology providers, which includes OpenText, Hewlett Packard Information Management and Microsoft.
Craig Broadbent, co-founder of Stonebridge Systems, said the deal with Konica Minolta was mutually beneficial. “For our clients the acquisition means lifting the conversation from tactical to strategic collaboration, deepening our value and helping them achieve their business goals. With our digital expertise, we’ll be able to help steer clients of Konica Minolta through the fast-changing marketing technology landscape, freeing them to focus on what matters most: their core business and customers.”
Stonebridge Systems delivers content management and digital solutions for document and records management, intranets, responsive websites and mobile apps. Established in 2009, Stonebridge Systems is a private company employing more than 30 people, with offices in Melbourne, Sydney, Singapore, Hong Kong and New Zealand.