Academia acquires AV specialist CWPro

Reseller augments Apple skills for government, non-profit and education verticals

Academia is an Apple channel partner

Education specialist reseller Academia has bought the pro-audio and pro-video business of Apple retailer CWPro.

According to a statement released by Academia, the acquisition is about adding to its Apple capabilities. The London reseller is already a holder of the Apple Solutions Expert accreditation around audio and video.

Mike Bacon, managing director at Academia Group, said the key was continuity.

“We were well aware of the first-class offerings of CWPro, which is why we were keen to acquire it,” he said.

“We obviously want to duplicate the output. About 95 per cent of its offering is commercial, but we see real potential to deliver these solutions to the education and non-profit sectors in which we already have a strong presence.”

The CWPro business will be rebranded as mediapros, but will have the same staff and operate from the same West London location.

“This kind of value-added acquisition fits our growth strategy and we predict a £10m turnover over the next year as a result,”said Bacon.

James Dancer, business development manager at mediapros, said it would aim to deliver an identical output as it did as CWPro.

“We also expect our existing contracts in the commercial sector to benefit from the deal," he said. "Our current clients will get the same quality service that they are used to, with the addition of support from the established Academia brand.

“The website will reflect the changes over the coming days.”

Academia has a deal with Becta and the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) to supply software to the education market.